The Vegas Interpretation
by Sheps888
Summary: The gang celebrates Leonard and Penny's engagement in Las Vegas where everything seems to go wrong. Amy is made aware of Sheldon's conversation with Kripke about their sex life and the couple is thrown into circumstances that force them to navigate life, love, jealousy and lust in the most sinful city on earth. Rated "M" for later chapters. Shamy centric. I own nothing.
1. Chapter 1

"I don't understand why we have to fly. The train is perfectly pleasant and would still get us there in a timely fashion." Sheldon huffed in and out of the paper bag as he pictured the plane crashing to the ground, knowing fully that not even Penny's Nebraska man hands could help in that catastrophe.

"You just need to relax, Sheldon. Flying is very safe," Amy said in a soothing voice to which Sheldon always responded. Only one other person in his life had ever been able to calm him, and his mother would not be on the plane with him this time.

"How can you say that, Amy? You call yourself a scientist, but you are continually duped into believing nonsense." His mouth firmly latched to the rim of the bag once again as it began to wax and wane to the sound of his erratic breathing.

"It will be okay. You are much more likely to die in a car accident and that doesn't stop you from allowing Leonard to drive you to work, the comic book store or the train store in Monrovia."

"That's beside the point," he said.

"That's the entire point, Sheldon. I think your fear of riding in the car is set aside knowing that you are getting something out of it, whether it be a new train, comic book or a free lift to work. You've made it very clear that you have no interest in going to Vegas, and I think that frustration has added to your anxiety about the flight." Amy looked at him with stern but comforting eyes.

"Perhaps. What do you suggest I do?" He set the bag on the coffee table, finally feeling comfortable in his spot on the couch.

"What do you feel you have to gain out of this trip?"

"Well, I have no interest in gambling, alcohol or prostitutes. I can't imagine what else Vegas would have to offer me."

"Alright. Don't think of what you have to gain, but rather of what others have to gain from you being there. You are Leonard's best friend. He invited you to share in this monumental step in his life. Your presence would make him very happy." Sheldon absorbed her words and sat motionless.

"Nuts to that. What else you got?"

"I'll be there." She looked down at the carpet, unsure of the response she would get. Her foot traced the edge of the rug.

"Yes," he said as he stood and walked to the fridge for something to drink.

"Yes? That's all you have to say?" Amy felt that ever familiar frustration beginning to boil.

"Yes, but you still haven't convinced me that I have anything to gain on this trip." Amy sat back into the couch and closed her eyes in frustration. Maybe now would be a good time to practice Kolinahr, if she believed in that sort of thing. At this point she was done with the conversation, but she wanted him there with her.

"The hotel restaurant has a make-your-own-sundae bar."

"This is going to be the best trip ever. See you at ten," he said as he shut the fridge and raced to his room to finish packing his suitcase.

"Probably should have led with that."

* * *

"Why isn't Sheldon at work today?" Howard asked as he spooned his macaroni salad into his mouth.

"He said packing required his full attention. He also mentioned going to the doctor to get anti-anxiety meds for the flight. If I knew that forcing him to fly would get him to take a Valium, I would have done it years ago." Leonard had had a smile on his face all day, knowing that in less than twenty-four hours he would be in Vegas with his best friends and the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with. Nothing could be more perfect.

"Speaking of Valium, you're looking pretty chipper today," Raj said as he enjoyed tater-tot Tuesday.

"I'm happy. More happy than I've ever been and I am so glad that you guys get to be a part of it," Leonard replied.

"We're happy for you," Howard said between mouthfuls.

"Actually, I have a question for both of you." A sense of seriousness fell on the conversation as Leonard set down his water. "I wanted this to be a little more formal but I just can't wait anymore. Will both of you be groomsmen in my wedding?"

Both Howard and Raj beamed. "Of course!" they said in unison. They all stood up and hugged one another in the middle of the cafeteria only to feel incredibly awkward when they realized that everyone was watching. What a bunch of Nosie O'Donnells.

"This is going to be the best trip ever," Raj said. "I just need to find someone to watch my princess while I'm away."

"You waited until today to figure that out?" Howard asked.

"It will be fine. The old lady that lives down the hall from me said she would be happy to puppy sit anytime, for the right price. Although I have a feeling she didn't mean money."

"Well, take care of it. You have to plan ahead," Howard said condescendingly as he ate more macaroni salad.

"Since when are you so mature and organized? It took you forty-five minutes to find your car keys this morning. And they turned out to be in the freezer."

"That's not the same thing. Bernie and I have had to be very organized to make everything work for everyone on this trip."

"Everyone? I thought we were all on the same flight and hotel," said Leonard with a wondering stare.

"We are, but Bernie invited some of her friends. She has never been to Vegas and decided to fly some of them out with her so they can have a 'girlcation.'"

"Bring on the ladies! Anyone we know?" asked Raj.

"I don't think so. Two of them are friends from work and the other is some professor from UCLA. Emily Richards, I think."

"THEE Emily Richards?" Leonard seemed ready to jump out of his seat.

"Yeah. You know her?" Howard and Raj were both confused because neither had heard of her.

"Emily Richards is only the most prevalent particle physicists in the nation. She has revolutionized the field in the last ten years."

"Is she hot?" Raj asked as if he heard nothing that Leonard had said.

"To be honest, I have no idea. Not many people have seen her. She is somewhat of a recluse. Sheldon would be the guy to ask."

"We should ask Sheldon if a woman is hot? That's like asking someone who is colorblind to pick out a red bowling ball," Raj smirked.

"I'm serious. Sheldon has every single one of her papers laminated and organized alphabetically in a safe under his bed. When I first met him I swear he was obsessed with this woman."

"That's just creepy. Now I don't want to know if she's hot," Raj looked disgustedly at his tots.

"Well, on that note, I think I've lost my appetite. What time do we meet at the airport tomorrow?" Howard asked as he picked up his tray.

"Ten," Leonard answered.

"See you then," Howard said as he and Raj left the cafeteria.

* * *

"Why do you need all these clothes?" Bernadette asked Penny as she watched endless outfits being hurdled from the closet to the suitcase and back to the closet again.

"What do you mean?" Penny asked, knee deep in shoes and designer jeans.

"We're only going to be gone for three days. Isn't this a little excessive?"

"Not at all. Every outfit serves a purpose. I need different clothes for dinner, dancing, drinks, sight-seeing, swimming, casual, formal. The list is endless. And each category has to have multiple outfits to reflect the mood I'm in. It's a whole system."

"Okay, but we leave in eighteen hours."

"God, are you serious? Where does the time go. I'll be up all night."

"Me too," Bernadette said with a sigh.

"You? Why?"

"I finally heard back from my friend, Emily, and she has decided to go with us. I'm scrambling all over to make hotel reservations and arrange a rental car. I really want her to stay at the same hotel as us, but they are booked solid. So, I took a leap and put her in Amy's room. The only other options were Sheldon and Raj, and I didn't foresee either one working out."

"I wouldn't worry about it. She's a scientist. I'm sure she'll get along great with Amy."

"I hope so. I hardly ever see her get out of her office. She works so hard and I really want her to have a good time."

"Don't worry. This is going to be the best trip ever."

"What time do Howie and I meet you at the airport tomorrow?"

"Ten."

"Can't wait."


	2. Chapter 2

"It's important, Amy," Sheldon said as he slipped the key into the lock of his office door.

"It's 9:30, Sheldon. We're going to miss our flight." Amy was not amused by Sheldon's antics this morning. He had her drive all the way to the university to pick up some mysterious object that Sheldon simply could not live without, but she knew he was just stalling in hopes that the plane would leave without them.

Sheldon slid an even smaller key into the side drawer of his desk and with a flick of the wrist, the drawer popped open. He fumbled through the contents for a minute before pulling out a spotless 8x10 white board with a single blue marker attached to the side.

"You never know when genius will strike," he said with a raised brow while hunting for the eraser and cleaner.

"I'll be waiting in the hall when you decide to stop stalling," Amy sighed.

"Suit yourself."

The hall was cold. It was still early so the university carried an eerie sort of chill in the air, perfectly fitting for a day like today. Amy couldn't wait to go to Vegas and enjoy the sights and sounds of a new city, but she wasn't sure if they would ever get there if Sheldon had anything to say about it. She paced to and fro, reading the advertisements on the cork board when a man walked passed. When he saw her face, he smiled and made a perverse gesture with his hands. She didn't know exactly what it meant, but she could deduce that it was something sexual.

"That was weird," she whispered under her breath and went back to reading about lost dogs and roommates wanted.

"Amy, are you still out there?" she heard Sheldon whisper from behind his office door.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving without you."

"Drat." She heard him scuffle back to his desk.

"This is going to be a long trip." She walked over to the water fountain and as she bent over to quench her thirst, a very familiar voice chimed.

"Well, if it isn't Amy Fawah Fowler." Barry Kripke was a creep, even at 9:30 in the morning.

"Hello, Barry." She wiped the water from her lip and looked at her watch, wishing she were on that plane and not here talking to this lisping buffoon.

"You've made quite a name for yourself here at Caltech."

"What do you mean?"

"Sheldon told us all about you." Barry's smile was the same as the man that passed by earlier, a suggestive grin contorted into a smile.

"Oh? And what exactly did he tell you?"

"Just that you're gweat in the sack."

"What?" Amy wasn't sure how to respond. She'd never felt these emotions before.

"Among other things," he said while winking at her.

"Sheldon told you that we had sex?"

"Oh, yeah. And all the kinky details. He's the king of the physics department. Called you a vixen."

"I don't believe this," Amy was at a complete loss for words. She felt flattered, ashamed, and angry all at once. Angry more than anything.

Sheldon peeked his head out the door, "You still out…oh, hello, Kripke."

"Cooper, I was just telling your girlfriend that she is the talk of physics department."

Before Sheldon had time to respond, Amy had pushed the door open, grabbed the white board and ordered Sheldon into the car.

"But…" he started but she had no patience with him and pulled him by his jacket down the hall.

"She really is a vixen," Barry mumbled to himself as he walked away.

* * *

"Do you think they got lost?" Penny asked Leonard as they waited in line to board their flight.

"I'm sure they're fine. Amy has been here before."

"Sheldon is probably throwing a hissy fit."

"Probably, but if anyone can get him on this plane, it's Amy." The line began to move and they handed their tickets to the attendant. As they boarded the plane, they turned back to make sure everyone else was here. Check.

Everyone was riding coach. There was no sense in paying for first class tickets for a one hour flight. Penny and Leonard were seated together but everyone else was scattered around the plain. Sheldon and Amy's seats were the only two adjoining seats left on the plane, making sure that Sheldon had an aisle seat and the support of his girlfriend, but they wouldn't stay empty long as the attendant called names one by one on the stand-by list. The intercom sounded.

"THIS IS THE FINAL BOARDING CALL FOR FLIGHT 1806 TO LAS VEGAS, PAGING DR. AMY FARRAH FOWLER AND DR. SHELDON LEE COOPER."

Raj looked at Leonard. "It looks like they're not going to make it."

"It's okay. I kind of suspected something like this would happen."

"Sorry, dude."

Leonard leaned back in his seat and watched the flight attendants latch the main door closed. The safety video began to play as Penny held his hand as comfort and they all prepared for the flight. Raj snuggled with his afghan. Howard stayed very still so as not to wake the large, tattooed man to his left and Bernadette chatted to her heart's content across the aisle with her friends.

But nothing happened. The video stopped mid-way through, and the plane remained stationary for several minutes.

"WE SEEM TO BE EXPERIENCING SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. WE ASK YOU TO PLEASE BE PATIENT UNTIL WE HAVE THEM RESOLVED. IN THE MEAN TIME, THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS WILL BE PROVIDING REFRESHMENTS." The intercom went silent again and everyone sat up in their chairs and awaited drinks and peanuts.

"Do you hear someone shouting?" Raj asked the female flight attendant as she poured his Diet Coke.

"I'm not supposed to say anything, but there was a crazy woman outside the plane shouting something about stopping at nothing to get her boyfriend to Las Vegas. They are waiting on security," she whispered.

"Oh my god! They're not a security threat. They're my friends! They're just late!" The flight attendant responded immediately and walked to the cabin to report the news to the pilot.

Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to what seemed like hours, but then they heard it. The pathetic whining that was only fitting of Sheldon. He tip-toed around the corner, huffing relentlessly into his paper bag while Amy pushed him from behind.

"I can't!" he shouted as if he were being burned alive.

"Sheldon, we agreed that we would do this together. It will all be okay. Now find our seats." Amy hoped that giving him a task would help distract him.

Sheldon looked up and down the aisles and could think of nothing but the plane exploding in mid air while they all plummeted to their deaths. "I can't!" he cried again.

"Care to share any of that Valium?" Amy said under her breath. "Here we are. Row 26, seats B and C. She guided Sheldon to his seat and helped him fasten his seatbelt while he focused on his breathing. She sat beside him and eyed Penny in the row adjacent to them.

"Why didn't you give him a valium before you left?" Penny asked.

"He's taken half the bottle."

"Good god! And he's still standing?"

"They don't seem to be doing much of anything. I'm starting to think they are just placebos. Sheldon doesn't have the greatest of relationships with his doctor. Although he probably should since he sees him every day."

"I can't!" Sheldon sobbed. His paper bag was wilting while the engines began the rattle the floor beneath their feet. The fasten seatbelt sign beeped and the safety video began to play, but Sheldon had no interest in watching. He held his eyes shut and clutched the buckle of his seatbelt.

"Excuse me?" A faint voice sounded from the seat behind Sheldon. The face of a woman peeked around the edge of his seat and said, "I may be able to help." Her hair was a deep auburn color held back in a simple pony tail. She had soft green eyes set against white skin.

"Thank you, but I'm a neuroscientist. He will be fine," Amy said in a voice that was stern but friendly.

"Amy, I can't!" Sheldon cried.

"Okay," the woman said as she sat back in her seat. "I've just heard that visualizing the landing can help, envisioning everything going perfectly and walking off the plane in perfect safety."

Sheldon's breathing slowed a bit.

"I've also heard that it helps to envision everything you plan to do after the plane lands. Envision walking through the airport to the baggage claim. Envision arriving at the hotel at which you plan to stay. Envision a nice, long, hot shower after the flight where you can let your cares melt away. "

Sheldon's grip loosened a bit. He still held his eyes shut as the plane began to take off.

"Envision what you plan to have for dinner. I know I like to have pizza on Thursdays. Envision your friends. What are they wearing? Where are you going tonight?"

Amy watched as Sheldon opened his eyes, his breathing still heavy but nothing like before. His color was returning and his eyes were no longer dilated, but the plane was still climbing.

"Sometimes when I'm scared, I like to think of something or someone who makes me happy. I imagine their smell, their face, their clothes."

Sheldon's features eased into the calmness of his Koala face and Amy knew that he was thinking of his Meemaw.

"I imagine the soothing sound of their voice and the touch of their hand. All my troubles seem to melt away knowing that even when I feel completely alone; they are still here with me." The woman's voice was calm and persuasive, flowing over him like warm water.

The plane had finished its take-off and reached its destined altitude. He had survived. They all had survived. He let go of his seatbelt and turned in his seat to see the face attached to this astonishing power. "That is remarkable," he said to her.

"I'm just glad I could help," she replied with a smile.

Sheldon sat back in his seat and let out a sigh. He unzipped his carry-on bag and pulled out his laptop to watch _Doctor Who._ "And you thought this was going to be a miserable flight," he said to Amy while adjusting his headphones.

"Was I wrong?" Amy said while she watched the ground below them drift by in little puzzle pieces.

* * *

"It's that blue bag with the gold zippers," Bernadette shouted at the baggage claim. Howard threw his head back in disgust as he lifted yet another bag that was bigger than he was. Leonard and Penny were holding hands and kissing, much to Raj's disgust. All he wanted was to use the potty. Amy hadn't said a word since the flight. She was irritated with everything. Irritated with Sheldon for making them almost miss the flight. Irritated with the stranger on the plane who was able to comfort her boyfriend more than she was. But above all, she was irritated with herself for not doing everything she could to help Sheldon. He was just so infuriating sometimes! But that was no excuse.

"What wonderful inventions, planes," Sheldon mused as he sat next to his luggage. Amy's guilt was short-lived.

"Could someone grab Emily's bag? It's the small, black one," Bernadette asked.

"Come on, Sheldon. Help out," Amy said while she patted him on the shoulder.

"I am Dr. Sheldon Cooper. I don't do manual labor," Sheldon said as if he were very offended.

"The faster we get everyone organized, the sooner we get to have sundaes."

Sheldon reluctantly stood grabbed the bag while looking at the name tag attached to it. "THEE Emily Richards, particle physicist at UCLA?" he squealed.

"Yes, thank you," a voice sounded from the crowd. "And you are Dr. Sheldon Cooper." A familiar face made its way towards him. The same auburn hair and green eyes. It was the woman from the plane.

"You know who I am?" Sheldon felt his heart patter.

"Yes, I'm a big fan. I heard you announce your name earlier, and I was pleasantly surprised." She thanked him and pulled her suitcase towards her.

"Your paper on electroweak baryogenesis is brilliant! It still gives me dreams at night," Sheldon gushed. She smiled humbly. Emily was tall. Taller than average, at least. She was beautiful but plain. No make-up. No frills. Just pure, unadulterated beauty.

"Oh, I see you've all had a chance to meet," Bernadette chimed in. "Sheldon and Amy, this is my good friend, Emily Richards. She'll be joining us this weekend." Sheldon and Amy's mouths fell so far that they nearly hit the floor. For different reasons, of course. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner, Amy, but Emily will be bunking with you this weekend. The hotel was booked and this was the only way to make things work."

Amy's face went blank. Her emotions were so jumbled and confused that her facial expression was the last thing on her mind.

"It's nice to meet you, Amy." Emily reached out to shake Amy's hand. "Or should I say, 'roomie'."


	3. Chapter 3

"Airport germs. Airport germs. Airport germs." Sheldon did his familiar neurotic dance around the hotel lobby.

"Can we get him checked in first?" Leonard asked the woman behind the front desk. "Before he explodes all over the furniture."

"Of course," the woman said with a smile, "Room 307." She began to hand the room key to Leonard, but Sheldon snatched it immediately and bolted towards his room in a fury.

"Hey, wait!" Leonard shouted. "After your shower, meet us down here for some sight-seeing. Twenty minutes."

Sheldon stopped and looked at Leonard. "Twenty minutes? I've never taken a twenty minute shower in my life!"

"Sheldon, we're on vacation. We don't have time to wait while you complete your two hour bathing ritual. Can't you skip it just this once?"

Sheldon paused for a brief moment of thought before bolting down the hall again. "Go without me!" he shouted without looking back.

Emily smiled at Sheldon's antics. "A hot shower sounds wonderful," she said to no one in particular while rubbing her neck. Amy rolled her eyes and sat on the couch.

"Alright, here are you keys," Bernadette said as she passed the keys to her friends.

"My key says 307-308. Which is it?" Emily asked.

"You'll be in 308 with Amy. She and Sheldon always get adjoining rooms," Bernadette said.

"Oh, good to know."

"Oh, dear," Sheldon sighed as the lock flashed red again after inserting his card for the fifth time. He examined the card closely, looking for anything that might obstruct the sensors in the lock. Nothing. He leaned his head back in frustration but was caught off-guard by a piece of lint on his shoulder. Airport lint. "Oh, good lord!" he shouted and shoved the key into the lock again.

Red light.

"Go slower," he heard a voice say from behind him. He turned to see Emily standing close behind him with her hand out asking to see the card.

"What?"

"You need to slide it in and out more slowly." She smiled and grabbed his hand with the card in it. Together they pushed the key into the lock. The moment passed in slow motion before the finally heard the click of the door. Emily looked up at him and smiled.

Green light.

"Finally!" Sheldon rushed into the room. "See ya," he said while slamming the door.

* * *

"Don't you want to go to your room and freshen up, Amy?" Penny asked after seeing Amy still sitting on the couch.

"Not really."

"Everything okay?" Leonard asked. "You seem a little off today."

"I'm fine. It's just been a long day."

"Sheldon _is_ a handful," Leonard sighed.

"Can I come with you to your room?" Amy asked Penny.

Penny and Leonard looked at one another, knowing that they were looking forward to spending a few minutes alone together. But Amy needed them.

"Sure," Penny said in a very comforting manner.

It was a quite walk to the room. The only sound was the chatter of the suitcases as they wheeled along the marble floor. Amy seemed lost in some emotional black hole, and Penny and Leonard were debating whether to save her or let her solve it for herself.

The rooms continued to pass.

301. 302. 303.

"Is there anything we can do?" Penny said quietly to Amy. "We really want you to enjoy this trip."

304. 305. 306.

Amy continued walking as if no one had said a word.

307. 308.

She stared at the door of Sheldon's room, listening to the sound of his shower hissing. She looked at the door to Emily's room and mentally measured the distance between the two. No more than six inches. Six inches had felt like miles to Amy in the past, but today it might as well be the width of a single hair.

309. At last.

Leonard unlocked the door and started loading the luggage inside.

"Does Sheldon ever talk about our relationship?" Amy asked while still staring at the adjoining hotel rooms. Leonard's eyes got wide as he rushed back into the room in hopes of dodging the conversation.

"Umm, of course he does," Penny said.

"Does he talk about our sex life?" Amy's stare never left those menacing six inches.

Penny was caught completely off guard. She looked at Leonard, but he was indisposed after feeling an urgent need to brush his teeth. What would she tell her? The truth?

"Oh, Amy, I didn't think you guys were…." Penny fumbled through her words, hoping a suitable answer would come to her.

"You didn't think what? That Sheldon and I could ever be intimate? Well, we're not, so you can let everyone know that we have been together for almost three years and are still in a _completely_ sexless relationship." Amy raised her voice while putting her hands on her face to help calm her nerves. "I'm sorry about that. You don't deserve that, but I genuinely want to know. Has he ever told anyone that we engaged in coitus?"

Penny felt torn and fished for a way out. "Sweetie, you know that Sheldon is a very private person. He takes your relationship very seriously."

"Please, just answer the question."

Penny didn't know what else to do. "No," she said.

She lied.

* * *

Six wash cloths. Soap. Shampoo. Conditioner . Toothbrush. Toothpaste. Mouthwash. Thirty pieces of dental floss cut into eight inch segments. Four Q-tips. Nail clippers. Nail file. Razor. Shaving cream. And aftershave. Sheldon was finally ready to shower. He moved through the thick cloud of steam towards the shower and began to untie his robe. The fabric slid down his skin as he set one foot onto the shower floor.

Then he heard it, an infuriating knock at his door.

He put his robe back on, tied it, and left the bathroom to answer the door. "Life is hell," he mumbled.

He opened the door only to find an empty hallway. The knock sounded again and he realized it was coming from the door adjoining his room to Amy's. "Amy, this had better be an emergency," he called through the door, "And even if it is, it's no reason to interrupt my shower." He opened the door and was startled to see Emily clothed in nothing but a towel and dripping hair. The six inches had been breached.

"I'm so sorry to bother you, but are you planning on using your complimentary shampoo and conditioner?" she asked.

"I hadn't planned on it, but doesn't your room carry the same amenities?" Sheldon asked in a stern voice. His long-lived admiration for Dr. Emily Richards was clouded by the presence of festering airport germs. She could have been Luke Skywalker in the flesh and he'd still be counting down the seconds until he could shower meticulously.

"It does, but those bottles are so small that one just isn't going to cut it." She smiled as she caught a glimpse of his chest through his robe.

"I see. Wait here." He retreated to the bathroom.

She peeked inside his room. His suitcase was open on the bed, all of its contents perfectly organized and color coordinated. She liked that.

"I think you'll find this sufficient." He emerged from the bathroom and held out the bottles.

She grabbed them and looked at him intently. "Thank you, Dr. Sheldon Cooper." She closed the door behind her as she returned to her room.

He fled to the bathroom.

* * *

Music racing. Bodies writhing. Lights flashing in neon colors. The club was crowded, which was expected on a Friday night, but Penny wanted to experience the night life of Las Vegas. Raj sipped his grasshopper and eyed every girl that passed. Howard danced with Bernadette, hoping to score in the bedroom later that night. And Leonard waited at the hotel to pick up Sheldon and Amy, although he knew that Sheldon would refuse to come if he knew they were going to a club.

"We're going to get sundaes, Sheldon, "Leonard said while handing Sheldon his jacket.

"But we can get sundaes here in the hotel."

"Help me out here?" Leonard looked to Amy for help.

"The sundaes here have very limited toppings. No nuts," Amy said.

"Oh, dear. I was planning on watching the _Battlestar Galactica_ marathon on the _SyFy_ channel tonight."

"You've seen that a hundred times, Sheldon. Let's go enjoy Las Vegas," Leonard said.

"Fine," Sheldon huffed as he put on his jacket. "But I want extra nuts for later."

* * *

"I love this song." Penny sipped her drink while watching the door for Leonard.

"I just saw Sheldon. He didn't look happy," Bernadette said breathlessly after she and Howard finished another dance. Leonard led Amy and Sheldon to their table.

"Why so glum, Tex," Penny shouted over the music.

"I was brought here under false pretenses." Sheldon sat at the table and continued to sulk, but Amy was thankful for the distractions. She ordered a drink immediately.

"Do either of you want to dance?" Penny asked as she bounced to the music.

"No. You know I don't dance," Sheldon said.

"I'm in," Amy polished off her drink in one big gulp and took off her cardigan. "You sure you won't join me?" she asked Sheldon.

"Quite sure. Dancing is illogical." Amy watched him for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders.

"Actually, it's one of the most logical things in the world," Emily said from the adjacent table while swaying to the beat. She was almost unrecognizable. Her hair fell over her shoulders in glossy curls. She wore a slim fitting red dress and high heels. A vixen.

"Dr. Richards? What are you doing here?" Sheldon was stunned. "I never expected someone like you to partake in these ridiculous activities."

"You're looking at it all wrong, Sheldon." She sat in the chair next to him and crossed her leg, revealing more of her thigh. "Not dancing is the only illogical conclusion to the equation."

"Explain." He respected her enough to listen to her reasoning, although he was sure it was complete poppycock. How could someone so brilliant engage is the actions of simpletons?

"When we trap particles in an enclosure, what do we see when we look closely at them?"

"We see them reacting to the temperature and air pressure around them."

"Exactly. And what if we were to increase the heat and pressure?"

"They would move faster, eventually colliding with one another and the barriers of the enclosure."

"And if they didn't?"

"That question is irrelevant. The notion that particles would remain stationary in the presence of an external heat source makes no,"

"Sense?" she finished his sentence before he had a chance.

"Yes," he said with a raised brow, feeling slightly confused at the turn in the conversation.

"It's the same with humans, Sheldon. The music is the external pressure and the others on the dance floor are the heat source. With music this loud and crowds this dense, it's illogical to suppress the urge to dance."

Amy laughed at the ridiculousness of her argument. Sheldon was never going to fall for it. She handed her cardigan and purse to him and made her way to the dance floor with Penny and the girls.

"So, what do you say? Why not go out there and dance with your girlfriend?" Emily said while glancing at Amy.

Sheldon winced as he looked at the crowd while his fingers delicately traced the buttons on Amy's cardigan. He was torn.

"Come on." Emily didn't wait for his response. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor. He set down Amy's things and removed his jacket. This was going to be interesting.

The music thumped loud enough that he could feel the pulses on his skin. Pressure. Bodies pressed against him, a stranger's breath on his neck. Heat. The lights flashed. Dark, light, dark, light.

He watched Emily's body sift into the crowd in flashes, like a 35 millimeter film strip purring through a projector. The whole situation was repulsive to him, but he found himself being devoured by some mysterious animal magnetism. Resolve was fading.

They reached the center of the dance floor where Amy was dancing with Penny and Bernadette. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw Sheldon on the dance floor holding the hand of another woman. She stared directly at Sheldon as he approached.

"Go on," Emily pulled him close to Amy before starting to dance with Bernadette. Pressure. Both Amy and Sheldon remained still. Terrified to move. Terrified to breathe. Terrified to lose control.

Amy started to sway to the beat. Sheldon never noticed her legs before tonight. They were intriguing as they flashed in the black light. She danced faster. Pressure.

He focused on his breathing, attempting to keep his adrenalin in check, but then she put her hand on his hip and pulled him closer. He could feel her legs touch his own. Heat.

The music grew louder, a viral infection spreading through his body, and he started to move his hips. Amy watched as he moved awkwardly at first.

But soon he developed a rhythm and pulled Amy closer. She could see the beads of sweat starting to form on his neck. His breath mingled with the smell of her perfume as moved together.

But both of them felt an uncontrollable desire mounting. Sheldon's hands slid down Amy's thighs, a slow and controlled maneuver of a man with considerably more experience, when Emily interrupted.

"How's it going over here?"

Sheldon paused. He slowly pulled his hands away from Amy and stood stunned in his rapid breathing. "This was a mistake," he said before rushing off the dance floor. Amy followed but the sea of writhing bodies consumed her efforts. She emerged in time to see the door close behind him.

* * *

**Chapter 4 in the works. Read, review, enjoy.**


	4. Chapter 4

"He left? What happened," Leonard shouted over the music.

"I don't know. He was dancing with Amy and then he just stormed out. We have to go find him before Vegas eats him alive," Penny said while putting on her jacket.

"Alright, let's start at the hotel and work from there. Get everyone together and I'll bring the car around." Leonard grabbed his keys and rushed to the parking garage.

"Oh, I don't want to leave! I was just getting my groove on!" Raj whined.

"Pipe down! Sheldon is your friend and he needs our help," Bernadette said forcefully.

Raj leaned over to Howard and said, "Dude, you so could have done better." Bernadette sent a glare Raj's way that left him cowering behind Howard's petite five foot frame.

"Yeah, it was a coin toss between Bernie and my right hand. Who knew she'd win?" Howard quipped at Raj.

"Well, she's ruining our night," Raj pouted.

"Shut up. Car's here," Penny ordered and ushered the group out the door. Amy looked at Emily, but both held their silence knowing that they may have just stepped into Sheldon's proverbial lion's den. It was an eerie silence.

* * *

"Hi, have you seen our neurotic friend anytime in the last hour?" Leonard asked the same woman who checked them in earlier that day.

"Yes, he headed to his room about a half an hour ago. Looked pretty upset. Everything okay?" she asked.

"It never is when you're dealing with crazy," Leonard huffed, "Thank you for your help."

Leonard turned to the group. "He's in his room. How do we handle this?" Leonard searched for answers but the group was silent for several minutes.

"I'll take care of it. It was my fault. You shouldn't have to ruin your night," Amy said.

"Great. We're out." Howard smiled and pulled Bernadette away by the hand.

"Me, too," Raj said and trailed behind them like a lost puppy.

Penny and Leonard were beginning to understand that this whole fiasco was an intricate web where they simply did not belong. Penny hugged Amy and assured her that everything would be better in the morning, but Amy was in no mood for comfort. Her boyfriend had just run in terror from a single dance with her. Her world was crushed.

"You should really get some rest. I'll take care of Sheldon. This is all my fault, anyway" Emily said, feeling terribly guilty. "I never should have pushed him to dance."

"Dancing wasn't the problem. I was." Amy pulled her purse onto her shoulder and made her way to Sheldon's room while the others turned in for the night.

* * *

_You've reached the voicemail of Dr. Sheldon Cooper. My time is valuable, so please keep your message short. Or better yet, just hang up now. Beep._

Amy never expected him to answer. Her heart told her that he would never speak to her again, but her mind knew better. It was her heart that got her into this mess to begin with. What did it know about anything?

More than she cared to admit.

Room 307. She knocked gently, but no answer. She waited in hopes that he was just taking his time, but the door never opened, his face never appeared, and her heart continued to break.

She knocked louder. "Sheldon, it's me. Please open the door."

Nothing.

There comes a moment in every person's lifetime when they feel they've achieved perfect mental clarity. Amy felt sure that this was her moment. Not only was Sheldon coerced into dancing with her by the persuasion of another woman, but he was also disgusted by it. That wasn't in the four year plan.

She opened her room door to see Emily getting ready for bed. "How is he?" Emily nearly whispered because she knew how delicate the situation was.

"He won't talk to me."

"Is this typical?"

"Couldn't say. This situation is new to all of us."

Emily smiled in sympathy and shut the bathroom door behind her. Amy sat on the bed and cradled her cardigan; the smell of his aftershave still lingered. She walked to the adjoining door and turned the knob in hopes that he had left it unlocked but she was met with disappointment. She let her body sink to the floor and inhaled his scent.

"Sheldon?" she whispered to the door so Emily couldn't hear, "Do you remember the day that we first met?" She stroked the cardigan and laughed. "Of course you do. You remember everything." She felt herself getting flushed. "I remember you—what you were wearing, the style of your hair, the color of your eyes. But none of it mattered until I heard you speak and realized that you were the only person that I had ever met who was on a similar life journey. You were the most brilliant man I had ever met. You're passion for science and logic ignited a fire in me that I never thought was possible. You inspired me. You motivated me. You made me feel like I had a true purpose in this world. That hasn't changed. You're still the most brilliant man I've ever met. You'll always be the most brilliant man I've ever met."

She felt a tear slip down her cheek, "I'm sorry."

The bathroom door opened and broke the silence. Emily meticulously packed her clothes and toothbrush into her suitcase which was perfectly organized and color coordinated. She sat on the bed across from Amy. "That's really beautiful," she said with her hands folded in her lap. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear."

Amy wiped her face and stood up. "I'm sorry I'm not much of a roommate." Amy sat in thought on her bed.

"Don't ever be sorry about falling in love," Emily rested her hand atop of Amy's in comfort. "How did you and Sheldon meet?"

Amy felt awkward confiding in the one woman she had designated as her sexual rival, but this felt right. It was the first thing to feel right since this trip began. "We met through an online dating site."

"Oh, those can be just awful, sifting through hundreds of names and profiles of people that the site claims are your perfect match. I tried that once. It was a miserable experience. And here I am—still alone."

"There was no sifting. There was only Sheldon. He was it. He's always been it." Amy sat back on her bed and removed her shoes.

"You're very lucky. Most people spend their entire lives searching for a connection that strong. And most fail."

"Is that what happened to you?"  
"More or less. I thought I'd found it, but love is a two way street. I was going to marry my best friend, my high school sweetheart and my college love. But at our engagement party, he told me that he felt we were making a mistake. That we didn't have what it takes to be happy together for an entire lifetime. And he left."

"Oh, my god. That's awful."

"It _was_ awful, and it made it clear just how hard it is for people like us to truly connect with another person."

"People like us?" Amy asked.

"Scientists. Most eligible companions feel inferior when they learn of our knowledge and field of study, and those who aren't intimidated have to wade through an endless see of quirks and oddities to find the essence of what makes us who we are, and well… Most don't get that far. And if that doesn't derail the relationships chances, sex ultimately will. People like us inevitably have to choose between a romantic relationship and our careers."

"Well, that's one thing I don't have to worry about," Amy said despondently.

"How do you avoid it?"

"It's easy. Sheldon and I have never engaged in… that is, we've never had… It's just that we've never been," Amy lowered her voice to a whisper, "intimate."

"Oh!" Emily said with open eyes. "So dancing wasn't the best idea."

"No, not really," Amy sighed.

"I'm so sorry. If I had known I never would have pushed him. But I'm sure everything will be okay. "

"Is it okay if we end the conversation here?" Amy said sadly. "I'm pretty tired."

"Of course. Goodnight, Amy." Emily smiled and turned off the lamp.

* * *

The clock flashed. 2:37 AM. Amy watched the bumps on the ceiling dance in the flashing red light. She couldn't sleep.

The events of the night sped through her mind on replay. Why did he dance? Why did he touch

her like he did? Why did he stop? Amy felt helpless to control her own fate.

That was it. She needed to get out of that hotel room and take a walk. She grabbed her robe and hotel key and walked through the room, checking the adjoining door one more time to see if it was unlocked. Which, of course, she knew would be a fruitless endeavor.

Click. Perhaps not as fruitless as she thought.

The door was unlocked. Sheldon must have unlocked it at some point during the night. Amy felt the wheels in her head begin to turn. Was this a sign? She climbed back into bed and contemplated what to do. She could make a sexual advance on him, assuming he'd recovered from the dancing trauma. No, she'd better not assume that.

She could yell at him for being the way he is. Simply infuriating. But what good would that do? He's not much for change, especially at 2:44 AM.

"The hell with it. I'm going in." She put on her slippers and walked to the door. With a calculated motion, she opened the door and acclimated herself to the darkness inside. Sheldon was in the center of the bed, sleeping soundly in his vampire pose. She watched as he breathed in and out. There was something very peaceful about him now. He seemed truly at rest, a sight that she had never really seen. She couldn't disrupt that.

She snuck out of the room and grabber her pillow and blanket. Surely, a sleepover never hurt anyone. She knelt next to his bed for a moment before placing her hand on top of his and whispering, "Sweetest dreams, Sheldon." She placed her pillow and blanket on the floor and fell asleep next to his bed.

* * *

"I do not have to urinate. I am the master of my own bladder," Sheldon mumbled in his bed. But it was a moot point. He had to pee. "Drat."

He slipped out from beneath the covers and set on foot on the ground. The clock flashed. 3:56 AM. He set his other foot down and began to move towards the bathroom.

"Ahhhh!" A high pitched scream sounded as Sheldon realized that he had just stepped on someone.

"Oh, good lord!" He cried as loud as his lungs would allow. But the screaming didn't stop. He rushed to turn on the light when he saw her, Amy writhing around on the floor in a total panic.

The scream hissed through the air again.

Sheldon tried to talk to her. "Amy, are you okay? What's wrong?"

But she didn't respond. Her eyes were open, but her body had a mind of its own. Just as Sheldon began to panic, there was a knock on his door. He opened it to find Penny and Leonard in their pajamas.

"What's going on? We heard screaming," Penny said breathlessly but she didn't wait for an answer when she saw Amy. "Oh my god, she'd having a night terror."

She reached down to pick up Amy. "Help me sit her up!" But Leonard and Sheldon were apprehensive. They'd never seen anything like this. It was almost supernatural. "Now!"

Leonard got on his knees and took Amy into his arms while Penny tried to stroke Amy's hair, but there was no progress. She was too strong and as Penny tried one final time to calm her, Amy bit her arm, leaving a substantial gash that bled immediately.

"Oh, god!" Sheldon cried. "What do we do?"

"I don't know! I've never dealt with something like this," Leonard shouted, "Here, wrap penny's arm in my shirt."

Sheldon caught the shirt when Leonard threw it to him, but began to feel weak at the sight of the blood.

"Just give it to me and go help Amy," Penny said.

Sheldon watched Amy at a loss. They were all at a loss. The adjoining door opened and Emily peeked her head through.

"Everything okay in here?" she asked in concern.

"No, Amy is having a night terror and we have no idea how to fix it. Penny has already been injured trying," Leonard responded.

"Oh, my gosh. Okay, help me get her on the bed." Emily seemed sure of what she was doing. Leonard helped her lift Amy onto the bed where she sat closely behind her and wrapped her legs over Amy's. "Now held her heard back while a slip my arms under her." Emily put her arms beneath Amy's and pulled her into a lifeguard hold. "Now rest her head back against my shoulder." Leonard pushed Amy's head onto Emily's shoulder and watched as Emily used all her might to control Amy's outbursts.

Just as things seemed to be getting under control, Howard, Bernadette and Raj walked into Sheldon's room.

"Damn it, Leonard. You said you'd tell me if you guys had an orgy," Howard said. Bernadette elbowed him in the stomach.

"Quite! Can't you see that something's wrong?" Bernadette glared at him.

Amy's energy began to fade and her movements became less violent. Emily unbuttoned the top of Amy's pajamas and began to rub her chest in a circular motion. "It's okay, Amy. This is Emily. You're having a night terror. Everything is going to be okay," she whispered in Amy's ear. Amy's body began to soften under her touch. "That's it. Just relax. You're okay," Emily continued.

After several minutes, Amy's body had calmed and she was in a peaceful sleep once again. Emily slowly let her go and rested her on the bed. She rocked her gently to help her wake up and watched as Amy's eyes fluttered open. "Hi, sweetie," Emily whispered. "Do you know where you are?"

Amy sat up on the bed and stared wide-eyed at the audience in front of her. "I was asleep. The last thing I remember was coming in here to be with Sheldon and now all of you are here watching me."

"You had a night terror, and it got a little wild. Penny has some battle wounds but everything is okay now," Emily said as she rubbed Amy's hand.

"I hurt you?" Amy said to Penny, feeling completely grief stricken that she could physically harm her bestie.

"It's fine Amy. Just a scratch," Penny said in an effort to appear strong.

"No, that needs stitches," Leonard said as he unwrapped the shirt around her arm. "We need to get you to the hospital. Let me just get my keys."

Leonard ran across the hall, but as he reached for his pockets, he realized that they had left all of their hotel keys inside.

"It's okay. I'll drive," Emily said and helped Penny out the door.

"I'm coming, too," added Amy.

"Can I borrow one of your robes?" Leonard asked Raj and Howard.

"No way, dude. That's gross," Raj replied.

"And watching you walk down to the front desk will be one of those priceless moments we'd regret missing," Howard chuckled.

"Jerks." Leonard folded his arms over his chest and started to walk down the hall in his green Ninja Turtles boxers.

Sheldon watched as the other left his room and felt a warm sensation in his trouser region. He looked down at his pajama bottoms. "Another problem solved. I'm on a roll tonight."

* * *

**Thank you for all the kind reviews. Chapter 5 coming soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Pee for Houston, pee for Austin, pee for the state my heart got lost in. And shake twice for Texas," Sheldon chanted from his bathroom. It was 6:24 on Saturday morning. _Doctor Who _would be starting in exactly six minutes.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Can't a man get a single moment's peace?" Sheldon dried his hands and answered the door.

"Good morning, Sheldon." Amy stood in front of him with a catering tray with two bowls of cereal, two glasses of orange juice and a bottle of 2% milk. Her hair shimmered in the sunlight lining the hall. She looked as if she were well-rested and ready for another day.

"Amy? I didn't expect to see you this morning after what happened last night. Are you feeling okay now?" Sheldon said with genuine concern.

"I'm feeling much better, and after some thought, I realized that I owe you an apology for my actions yesterday and I wanted to make it up to you. I know that you wake at 6:15 every Saturday to watch _Doctor Who_ so I have brought cereal and orange juice as a peace offering."

"Tropicana-no pulp?"

"Obviously."

Sheldon looked into her eyes for what felt like hours. "You have four minutes. Find a seat" He opened the door and stepped aside. Amy beamed and scampered into the room.

All had been forgiven.

Amy approached the bed but was seized with an overwhelming sense of uncertainty.

"Is everything okay?" Sheldon asked.

"It's just that we've never sat on a bed together before. Not really sure what the protocol is," Amy said apprehensively.

"The same as it is at home, I would assume."

Amy decided to take the plunge and sit on the bed. Nothing had ever felt so alien to her, but she needed to push through. No pain no gain. She chose the left side of the bed and sat with the tray in from of her legs.

"Not there. That's my spot," Sheldon said. Amy rolled her eyes playfully.

"I am definitely feeling at home," she replied as she slid to the other side of the bed and began to prepare their breakfast.

Sheldon munched on his cereal as he fished through the channels to find BBC America.

6:30.

The _Doctor Who _theme song began to play.

* * *

The empty bowls were stacked neatly on the tray, drops of milk still lining the bottoms. Light seeped from behind the curtains and speckled the bed in its very own astronomical display. The fan of the air conditioner hummed a subtle tune.

But there was a tension growing.

Amy and Sheldon sat side by side. Hands close enough to touch and thighs close enough to share body heat. They watched intently as the Doctor rushed to save the world again.

And then he kissed her; the Doctor held River close and saved the universe with a single kiss. Amy watched as Sheldon turned his head as if he were embarrassed to watch the kiss or even be in the same room with people partaking in such a scandalous activity.

But Amy didn't buy it. Sheldon felt something on the dance floor the night before, something lustful, and she was going to prove it.

She leaned closer to him and slowly traced her fingers along the top of his hand. She watched as his eyes leapt off the screen and stared at her hand. But he didn't stop her.

She laced her fingers between his and laid her head on his shoulder. He was rigid to this at first, but as they continued to watch the show, his body relaxed.

He was ready for more.

Amy lifted her lips to his ear and whispered, "Sheldon, do you ever think about kissing?"

Sheldon stared straight ahead, afraid that if he moved she would consume him. "I have, but it's no more interesting than any other arbitrary activity."

"And what about French kissing?" Amy moved her hand up his chest, feeling each curve and muscle of his torso.

"Well, I never really…" Sheldon's voice failed when he felt Amy press a gentle kiss against his neck. He'd never felt anything quite like it. Such a surge of adrenaline pumped through his system. He began to breathe heavily.

Amy could feel his heart pounding in his chest and knew that it was working. She kissed his neck again and watched as his breath hitched as if he had just jumped into a pool of cold water.

She traced the contour of his jaw. His face was flushed and hot to the touch. She turned his head towards her. Their chests heave din unison.

The tension grew.

He watched her eyes so intensely that she was sure he was reading her mind. And he liked what he saw.

And there it was, the same look he gave her last night on the dance floor. She was right.

"Maybe we can make kissing a little more interesting for you." She slowly ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer to her, their eyes still locked on one another. She parted her lips and kissed his lips gently, waiting for him to react before going further.

She waited as they breathed together, the distance between their lips less than an inch. Amy savored the moment to taste the sweet mint on his breath. Ecstasy.

He held his breath for a single moment before licking his lips and pressing them against hers. Amy's heart spiked so high that she felt she may die from a heart attack.

He kissed her gently, but Amy wanted more, and she knew he did too. She opened her mouth and deepened the kiss when she felt him grab her above the hip and pull her closer.

_Is Sheldon making a move?_ She asked herself until she felt his tongue slide across her bottom lip, and then all thought was lost. She pushed him down on the bed and kissed him deeply.

Their tongues did a sensual dance that neither could fully describe and nothing had ever felt better. Amy could feel her body getting warm, but she wasn't the only one. Sheldon had begun to sweat through his Superman t-shirt and now it clung to his skin.

He moved his hand from her hip to her stomach and slowly reached for her breast.

_Come on. Almost there. _Amy said to herself.

He was so close that he could feel the bottom of her bra through her blouse. But just as she expected him to reach second base, he brought his hand to her shoulder and pushed her away.

"This is wrong, Amy," he said breathlessly and rushed off the bed.

"Wrong?" Amy said, feeling as if she had just been woken up from the best dream she'd ever had.

"This isn't in the agreement. It hasn't been discussed or scheduled. It's wrong." Sheldon threw his hands in the air and shut the bathroom door behind him.

Amy sat on the bed and straightened her hair and blouse. How could the best and worst time of her life be the very same moment? She looked at the closed door, "Guess we're back to square one."


	6. Chapter 6

"We were thinking of seeing the aquarium at the Silverton Hotel and maybe Caesar's Palace. You in?" Leonard asked Howard.

"Can't we just go gambling like normal people?" Howard said with a sigh.

"Well, we can do that before dinner," Leonard said as he packed his inhaler in his backpack. "And I thought Bernadette wasn't a big fan of gambling, or is she just not a big fan of YOU gambling since you lost over $5000 at the horse track last year?"

Howard grabbed his jacket and glared, "I would have won it all back if she let me play the next race."

"You are so whipped."

"I know." Howard hung his head.

* * *

"I kissed Sheldon," Amy said while watching Penny put on her make-up.

"Shut up!" Penny turned and squealed as she sat on the bed. "Tell me everything!" She inched closer to Amy expecting to relish every detail, but Amy stood up and paced around Penny's hotel room.

"It was a mistake."

"Oh, god. Did Sheldon freak out? What a wuss."

"It was worse than that. I really think I scared him. And I knew it would happen that way."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"I don't know. I guess a part of me thought he wanted it."

Penny looked confused. She'd known Sheldon a long time and had never seen him show any signs of desiring physical intimacy while with Amy. "Do you think that maybe it was you who wanted it?" she asked Amy.

"That's why I feel so terrible. I've always wanted a more intimate relationship with Sheldon, and I've never really made that a secret, but I would never push him to get it. His comfort and happiness mean more to me than anything."

"Then what happened, Ames?"

"I let myself believe something that wasn't true. The day before we left, Barry Kripke told me that Sheldon had been bragging about his sexual relationship with me to the guys at the university."

Penny felt her stomach drop. What else did Amy know? "After I cooled off, because I was definitely angry, I thought that maybe it was Sheldon's way of expressing his feelings for me. That maybe that was his childish way of saying that he was ready for something more. I thought that if I was closer to him, he might be able to work through his feelings. But I was stupid. I never should have believed Kripke."

Penny was silent, trying desperately to avoid her conscience that was sending sirens through her thoughts. "Amy, Kripke was telling the truth."

"What?" Amy felt so confused.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"You knew all this time?"

"It felt like something that Sheldon wanted to keep private."

"Private? If he wanted to keep it private, he wouldn't have told everyone at Caltech. Do know how awful I feel knowing that I am no longer a respected scientist, but am now just the tag line to countless sex jokes?" Amy's face flushed.

"Amy, I can't vouch for what Sheldon said to Kripke exactly, or anyone else for that matter. But I can vouch for what he said to me."

"And that is?"

"That he cares for you and is truly working on being more intimate with you."

Amy searched Penny's face. She was telling the truth. Amy felt her body relax a bit as she processed everything.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well, why would he say all of those things to Kripke?"

"Does it matter?" Penny smiled.

"No, I guess not. It is Kripke; once an ass always an ass. But Sheldon won't get off easy. What I did was wrong, but what he did was wrong, too," Amy said as she let out a sigh.

"So what now?"

"Well, if Sheldon said he's working on it, I'm sure he is. But other than that, I don't know. I'm angry with Sheldon and in love with him all at the same time. I just want things to go back to normal. Before all of this happened."

"Normal is easier said than done for Sheldon," Penny chuckled.

* * *

"Do you think Amy has been acting odd lately?" Sheldon asked as he played chess with Raj on the giant set in the hotel lobby.

"You jump my queen and you think I'm going to help you with your relationship problems? Think again, dude. But for the record, I would have said, 'Amy's always odd.'" Raj moved his rook.

"Really? That's your move?" Sheldon smirked. "Well, it's a good thing you have no advice for me." Sheldon jumped his rook. "Check mate."

"Aside from you being completely annoying, Amy probably found out that you've been obsessed with Emily since the dawn of time. How's that for advice, Shelly Cooper the smelly pooper," Raj said as he pushed over all of Sheldon's chess pieces.

"Well, that's not really advice, but why on earth would that bother Amy?"

"Dude, you have her papers laminated in a safe under your bed. That's worse than hiding porn from your girlfriend."

"Is that true Sheldon?" Amy said from behind them. Raj jumped in surprise.

"I don't see what the problem is. She is a scientist and I value her contributions to the world of physics."

"You are in way over your head, Sheldon," Howard laughed in delight.

"Can we just get this pointless excursion over with?" Sheldon tried to change the subject.

"Speak of the devil," Amy mumbled as she saw Emily enter the lobby looking cute in her white shorts and light blue tank top.

Emily paused for a moment when she saw that everyone was staring at her, "Do I have something in my teeth?"

Raj immediately whispered into Howard's ear. "Raj says, 'You look perfect,'" Howard said as he wiped Raj's breath off his ear.

"Oh, thank you. That's very sweet of you."

Raj leaned to Howard again. "I'm not saying that!" Howard huffed. Raj hung his head and whispered one last thing. "He says, 'You're welcome.'"

Emily looked at Amy, treading lightly after the eventful night before. "How are you feeling?" she asked Amy.

"Better now, thank you." Amy felt torn. It was just so hard to hate this woman. "I understand that you were a great help to me last night. I want to thank you. I'm sure it was a little awkward for you."

"Oh, not at all. My brother grew up with night terrors so I'm used to the process."

"You were amazing that night," Sheldon gushed to Emily. "If you get a free minute today, can I pick your brain about something later?"

"Of course. I've been looking forward to speaking with you," Emily smiled as she pulled her purse over her shoulder.

Leonard finally stepped away from the front desk with a handful of brochures. "Alright, I figured it out. Since we're only here for a couple days and there is so much to see, I bought us tickets to take a tour bus around town."

Raj whispered to Howard. "I agree. Tour buses are lame." Howard parroted.

"Hey, look!" Penny said in excitement, "It says we get free Italian sodas at the end!" She opened the brochure and showed it to Raj and Howard.

Raj contemplated before whispering. "Fine," Howard said.

"Do you ever feel like we're just glorified babysitters?" Penny asked Leonard.

"Every day," he replied and handed out brochures as the rest of them boarded the bus.

* * *

Penny sat with Leonard. Bernadette sat with Howard. Bernadette's work friends sat behind them and Raj sat with Emily. Amy was the last to board the bus only to find one remaining seat —next to Sheldon.

_This trip just keeps getting better, _Amy thought to herself. She took a deep breath and sat next to Sheldon. He straightened the bag on his lap and desperately tried to avoid eye contact.

He succeeded.

An awkward silence took over as the rest of the people on the bus chattered around them. They sat only inches from each other but they may as well have been oceans apart.

The tour guide's voice crackled through the worn speakers on the wall, "Welcome to the Las Vegas Original Tour Line. We have a fantastic trip planned for you folks today. We will be exploring the city and offering audio commentary on each attraction. We will stop every half hour in which you are free to exit the bus and partake in the city's local hot spots. We ask that you keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times and take caution while using your phones or cameras as we are not responsible for any lost, stolen, or damaged items. Now, sit back and relax. Our first attraction will be approaching momentarily."

Sheldon did all in his power to look anywhere but at Amy. To the left he saw Penny and Leonard kissing and laughing. He felt an uncomfortable sensation in his stomach and he inched further from Amy to create some sort of breathing room.

In front of him he saw Howard sliding his hand up Bernadette's skirt while she coyly pushed him away. Sheldon's foot began to tap with nervous energy.

Behind him he heard Raj shamelessly flattering Emily; Raj's mimosa finally kicked in. Sheldon swallowed and put his bag between him and Amy.

Amy wasn't immune to the tension on the bus. She watched the sights pass but everything was a blur of black and white. She couldn't think about anything but her kiss with Sheldon and how terrible she felt. Feelings of fear. Feelings of guilt. Feelings of rejection.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Penny waving her arms. Amy's senses returned with a bang. Everything was loud and colorful once again as Penny mouthed the words _Talk to him _While nodding her head towards Sheldon.

She was right. Amy needed to set things right.

Amy sat up straight in her chair and mentally formed her words in her head while watching Sheldon stare aimlessly at his pants. She opened her mouth to speak, hoping that this conversation wouldn't turn into some sort of scene on the bus. She knew this was the wrong time to bring it up, but it was the first moment she had spent alone with him since it happened and Sheldon may not give her another opportunity.

But just as she opened her mouth to speak, he pulled his phone from his pocket and began to play _Tetris _to pass the time. Amy's resolve crumbled while she watched his fingers tap away at the screen.

"Okay, folks," the tour guide's voice sounded again, "We have reached our first attraction. On your left you will see the magnificent Venetian Hotel. If you press the red button on the speaker in front of your seats, you can listen to the audio commentary as we pass."

One by one the passengers pressed the red buttons as a sea of synchronized audio recordings filled the air. Sheldon and Amy reached for their red button simultaneously and jumped as the touch of their hands startled them out of their daze.

The red button shined brightly, but there was no recording. The speaker cackled with feedback and static, a circular spectacle just laughing in their faces.

Amy and Sheldon sat back in their seats and experienced the city through the sounds of sandpaper and nails on a chalkboard.


	7. Chapter 7

"Come on, Daddy needs a four," Howard chanted as he threw the dice into the craps table.

Seven.

"Well, now I know why they call it craps." Howard peeked over the table to make sure Bernadette hadn't seen him lose another hundred dollars.

"Let's just go play slots," Raj suggested.

"Slots are for chicks and old people who have to smoke through their throats," Howard replied.

"Yeah, but that one has cute little dolphins on it."

"Are you sure you don't have a vagina?"

"Let's just try. Maybe we'll get lucky," Raj said as she realized the ambiguity of his statement.

* * *

"It's easy, Sheldon. Sit down and I'll show you," Penny said from a seat at the Spanish 21 table.

"I don't gamble," Sheldon replied adamantly, "I promised my mother I would never get caught up in the seedy underbelly of society."

"Seedy underbelly?"

"Yes, most of these people are probably part-time drug dealers, gang members and overall 'hood' affiliates."

"'Hood'?"

"Yes. They be in 'da hood'. Come on; get with the times, Penny."

"Look, Sheldon," Penny rolled her eyes; "These people are not gang members. In fact, they're probably some of the best mathematicians you'll ever see."

"I doubt that," Sheldon laughed.

"No, she's right," Leonard said, "Craps, blackjack, Spanish 21. They all deal with addition, subtraction, probability and odds. Those who do the math right, win."

"Do you mean to suggest that gambling is no different than solving an equation?"

"And getting paid for doing it right," Leonard responded, "So really, it's like what we do every day at work."

"They're hardly the same," Sheldon snorted.

Penny placed her bet as the dealer started to deal the next hand.

Queen, four.

Not the best hand but the dealer was showing a six, so Penny knew to stay where she was. The dealer flipped his hand to reveal a jack. He drew another card. 7. Bust. Penny wins.

"I think Sheldon's just afraid he'll suck," Penny said as she gathered her chips and sipped her martini.

"That's preposterous. If you can do it, anyone can." Sheldon sat in the chair next to Penny, determined to prove her wrong. "What are the rules?"

"It's easy," Penny winked at Leonard as Amy and Bernadette sat down to play as well, "The object of the game it to get closer to the number 21 than the dealer. If you go over 21, you lose. It's just like blackjack."

"Then why isn't called blackjack?"

"The betting options are just a little different. Think you can handle it?"

"Child's play," Sheldon laughed. "How many decks of cards?"

"Six," Leonard said.

"Let's do this," Sheldon said as he opened his wallet.

* * *

"We're heading to the slot machines, if you'd like to join us," Raj said to Emily as Howard slipped away to the ATM.

"That sound great. You guys will have to show me how to play. I'm just terrible at all of this stuff. I don't get out too much."

Raj led her to a nearby machine, wanting desperately to bring her to the singing dolphins but decided against it after reflecting on Howard's vagina comment. Monopoly would have to do.

"You just put your money in there, decide how much you want to bet and press this button," Raj instructed as he leaned over her. He could see the shape of her breasts down her tank top, but turned away and took another sip of his grasshopper. He kept telling himself that he was a gentleman.

"Okay, here goes nothing," Emily said with a smile as she pressed the button and watched the tiles spin on the screen.

No matches.

She pressed the button over and over until the money she deposited was depleted.

"I knew we should have played the dolphins," Raj mumbled to himself.

"What's that?" Emily asked as she grabbed her purse.

"Oh, nothing. Sorry you didn't have a better gambling experience."

"It was perfectly pleasant thanks to you."

Raj smiled.

* * *

Sheldon pulled out the last hundred dollar bill from his wallet and laid it on the table. He hadn't won a hand all night.

"You sure you want to keep going?" Leonard asked.

"Just deal," Sheldon said to the dealer. The dealer dealt two hands. One for Sheldon and one for Amy. Everyone else had finished and was just watching.

Sheldon's hand: nine, four.

Amy's hand: ace, jack. "Blackjack! You win," the dealer said as he paid Amy immediately.

Sheldon stared at his hand, calculating odds and probabilities in his head. He asked for another card.

Two.

Another card.

Four.

Sheldon did he math once more and waved his hand over his cards. Nineteen was a good hand. He was going to win. He could feel it.

"How's he doing?" Raj said as he and Emily approached the table.

"He's down $2400," Leonard said.

"Would you all just shut up!" Sheldon shouted as he waited for the dealer to turn over his hand.

The dealer reached for his cards. Queen, queen. Twenty.

"Sorry, sir. The house wins," the dealer said apologetically as he took Sheldon's last stack of chips.

Sheldon sat at the table in shock. "All my calculations were correct. I did everything right."

Amy sat across from him and smiled as she collected her chips. It felt good to be better than Sheldon at something.

"I don't know how, but she is cheating!" Sheldon said childishly to the dealer.

"Don't feel bad," Emily said as she touched Sheldon's shoulder. "I didn't do so hot on the slot machines."

"Slots are for chumps," he replied.

"That should tell you how badly I lost today."

Sheldon smiled slightly through his facial twitches.

"C'mon. Let's go to dinner," Leonard changed the topic.

"Okay, but has anyone seen Howie? He's been in the bathroom a long time," Bernadette asked. Raj and Emily looked at one another, knowing that Howard had been playing roulette for the last two hours.

"Uh, he said he wasn't feeling too well and that he would meet up with us at the restaurant, right Emily?" Raj said as he tried to avoid eye contact with Bernadette.

"Yep. That's what he said." Emily knew she was a terrible liar so she immediately started walking toward the exit.

"Alright, but he better be there on time," Bernadette said as she gathered her things.

* * *

"These Chinese restaurants are all the same," Sheldon sighed. "In what universe is this tangerine chicken?"

"Just enjoy the ambiance, Sheldon," Penny replied.

"Ambiance? We're in a glorified Panda Express. There is no ambiance."

"Not that you'd appreciate it even if it did have any," Amy mumbled from across the table. Sheldon had ignored her the entire day, and she was almost out of patience.

"Excuse me," Sheldon whined, "I like to think I have very good taste."

"Could have fooled me."

"I'm dating you."

"Little evidence of that," Amy said under her breath.

"You should be flattered that my sophisticated taste chose you."

"A dating site chose me based on the answers that Howard and Raj entered on your behalf. You had very little to do with the whole process."

"Okay, what's happening?" Leonard said as he looked up from his chow mein.

"I think they're having a spat," Penny whispered in his ear. "Amy kissed Sheldon this morning and things have been a little…tense since then."

"That's irrelevant," Sheldon huffed and returned to his pretend tangerine chicken.

"Is that your answer for everything?" Amy was becoming very irritated, and it didn't help that Emily was sitting next to Sheldon looking gravely concerned about his emotional state.

"It is when it's the right answer."

"That's just like you. To think you always know what's right and when you don't, you just run and hide."

"This is getting heated," Howard said as he watched the show.

"Can we go," Sheldon asked Leonard.

"See," Amy said.

"I am not running. I'm tired and the smell of this fraudulent chicken is starting to burn my nose," Sheldon said smugly.

"How convenient," Amy replied.

"And for the record, Raj and Howard entered answers verbatim to those I would have entered myself. So yes, my taste chose you."

"You always have to be right, don't you?" Amy responded.

"Oh, I have an idea," Howard said with a twinkle in his idea, "Why don't we head back to the hotel room and see who's smarter. Jeopardy. Sheldon versus Amy. Let's settle this once and for all. What do you say?"

The table sat silent. Leonard and Penny smiled at the sexually frustrated couple as they squirmed in their seats.

"That's ridiculous," Amy said matter-of-factly.

"Why?" Sheldon asked sternly, "Do you think you're smarter than me?"

"No," Amy replied while staring deep into his eyes. The stare of a vixen.

"Good, then it's settled." Sheldon was sure he'd already won.

"I know I am." Amy smiled.

"Oh, it looks like we have a challenge!" Howard stood up in excitement. "You gonna back down, Sheldon, or put your lady in her place?" Bernadette immediately elbowed him in the stomach. "And I mean that with complete respect, Amy," he wheezed as he hung his head between his legs.

"Fine. But no biology questions," Sheldon said as he stared back at Amy.

"And no physics questions," Amy replied.

"But…" Sheldon tried to speak but Howard cut him off.

"Nope, those are the rules. We'll head back to the hotel and let the games begin."

Sheldon twirled the chopsticks in his hand but never broke eye contact with Amy. This challenge was so much more than a battle of wits. It was a battle of wills, a battle of wants, a battle of wishes. It was the most important they'd ever done.

"You think they're really angry or just turned on?" Leonard asked Penny.

'Who knows. Maybe this is their version of foreplay. Either way, it should be interesting."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you again for all of the kind reviews. They truly fuel my creativity. Chapter 8 is in the works. I promise that Sheldon and Amy will face their demons in the near future. But for now, enjoy the tension. Long live the Shamy!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I did not have time to proofread this chapter, so please forgive me if there are any errors.**

* * *

"Alright, we have chosen the six categories," Howard said as he held the paper in his hand.

"I reject them," Sheldon said immediately.

"You haven't even heard them."

"I don't need to. I know that I didn't pick them-so I reject them."

"You can't pick your own categories Sheldon," Howard said as he started to write the categories on a white board, "And no. You can't choose your own questions either."

Sheldon furled his brow and pouted behind his podium. The categories began to fill the white board: Abbreviations & Acronyms, Mythology, U.S. History, Music, Animal Kingdom, and Language.

"I reject them," Sheldon demanded, "Animal Kingdom is a form of biology. Amy cannot have any advantage."

"Weren't you just bragging that you could beat me in any battle of wits on any topic?" Amy said with her hands on her hips.

"Yes, and it's true."

"Then prove it."

"Fine. I'll beat you at your own game. Leave the category in," he said to Howard.

"Then let the games begin," Howard announced.

"Wait!" Sheldon interrupted. "We don't have any buzzers."

"Damn, I hadn't thought about that," Howard looked around the room for an alternative, but nothing would work.

"They have bells at the front desk in the lobby," Penny said with a mischievous smile, "And I know someone just short enough to slip them away without being noticed." She winked at Bernadette.

"I may be small, but I'm not invisible. They're gonna see me!" Bernadette said.

"Bring Emily as a distraction."

"Good idea. Anyone would stop to look at her," Bernadette said as she grabbed Emily's hand and walked toward the door.

"I know I've been looking since we got here," Raj said.

"Eww," Howard winced.

* * *

"Okay, just flirt with the guy at the desk and I'll slide the bells into my purse," Bernadette said as she crouched behind the pillar in the lobby.

"But what if it's a girl?" Emily asked.

"Then flirt with her the same way you would with a guy. Trust me. Anyone would fall for those long legs and green eyes."

"But I've never flirted with a woman before. I wouldn't even know where to star…" Before Emily could finish, Bernadette had pushed her out into the open and the mission had begun.

_Here goes nothin'. _Emily said to herself as she approached the counter. No one was there. She rang the bell and waited, hoping that it would be a guy. Any guy.

No such luck.

A sophisticated older woman stepped out from the back room and greeted Emily with a smile and a warm greeting, "Good evening. How can I help you?"

Emily felt her throat tighten. She looked back at Bernadette for help, but Bernadette was in stealth mode. She couldn't be found.

"Uh, I was wondering if you had any brochures that I could look at," Emily stammered as she tried to portray some sort of confidence.

"Certainly. What are you interested in?"

"Interested in?" Emily felt her heart race. "Uh, men. Definitely."

"Excuse me?"

"Not that I don't care for women. Don't get me wrong. You're gorgeous and maybe in a different life we…" Emily was feeling light headed. This was not going according to plan, but the woman seemed distracted nonetheless. Bernadette tip-toed from behind the pillar and crept towards the front desk.

"Can I get you some water?" the woman asked Emily.

"Oh my, yes that would be wonderful." The woman smiled and walked into the back room. Emily exhaled and looked at Bernadette. "Hurry up! I'm choking here!

"You're doing great just keep her occupied." Bernadette grabbed the bells and ducked behind the front of the desk.

"Here you are. Sorry we didn't have any ice."

"This is perfect. Thank you." Emily drank the entire glass as slowly as possible while looking at Bernadette.

_You can do this, _Bernadette mouthed. Emily set the glass on the desk and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for my behavior. It's just that…" Emily paused to think about what she was going to do. _This is it_. "I get so hot sometimes," she said as she pushed her hair back and leaned forward onto the desk to reveal the top of her cleavage.

The woman behind the desk seemed taken off guard by the display and Emily knew that it was working. Bernadette winked in her direction and began to tip-toe towards the hall.

"Do you ever feel like that? Hot?" Emily asked in a sultry voice.

"Uh, well."

"I bet you do. How could you not?" Emily touched her arm seductively. The woman stood motionless.

_At least she's not reciprocating, _Emily reassured herself.

Then the woman put her hand on top of Emily's and looked deeply into her eyes.

_Until now. _Emily glanced down the hall just in time to watch Bernadette turn the corner.

"There _are_ times when I feel the need to…" the woman began to say.

"Turn in early and watch CNN? Yep, me too." Emily slipped her hand away and sprinted down the hall. "Thanks for the water!"

* * *

"What could possibly be taking them so long?" Sheldon huffed.

"Is someone getting anxious?" Leonard chuckled.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"That's them." Howard rushed to the door. "Wow, you guys look like you just went through a war zone."

"Sure felt like it," Bernadette said as she handed the bells to Howard. Emily immediately poured herself a drink.

"Yes! Now," Howard paused for dramatic effect as he readied his announcer voice, "Let the games begin!"

Sheldon and Amy approached their podiums and awaited the coin toss.

Heads.

Amy goes first.

"Abbreviations & Acronyms for 100," Amy said while watching Howard draw the first question.

"What do the letters PVC stand for?"

Amy immediately rang her bell. "What is polyvinyl chloride."

"Hey, she is cheating. Her bell rings faster than mine." Sheldon tried to plead his case but no one was falling for it.

"Music for 100," Amy kept her momentum going.

"What is the proper name for a solo in an opera?" Howard asked.

Ding! "What is an aria," Amy answered.

"Correct!" Howard announced, "You are still playing, right Sheldon?"

"Very funny," he snarled.

"Mythology for 200," Amy was determined to answer every question.

"In Norse mythology, who is the father of the gods?"

Ding! "Ha!" Sheldon laughed in triumph after hearing his bell chime first. "What is Odin. Anthony Hopkins played him in Thor."

"You are correct. Looks like we have a tie."

Sheldon made a childish face at Amy and continued to pick another category, "U.S. history for 100."

"Very well. What was New York City's original name?"

The bells rang almost simultaneously but Sheldon's was slightly faster. "What is New Amsterdam."

"Correct! Sheldon takes the lead."

Sheldon patted himself on the back and smiled sarcastically at Amy. "Looks like you're the slow one now. Sucks to be you. Animal kingdom for 200."

"Pride is to lions as what is to zebras?"

Sheldon rang his bell loud and clear and continued to ring it to prove that he had answered before the biologist. "What is zeal."

Howard looked at his card in disappointment. "Sorry, Sheldon."

"What?" Sheldon's mouth dropped.

"That is… Correct!" Howard laughed.

"Eat that, Fowler," Sheldon boasted.

Amy could feel her blood starting to boil. Sheldon may lack a lot of things, but ego was never one of them. Amy was going to fix that.

"Well, Sheldon has taken a commanding lead. So what's it gonna be, champ?"

"Mythology for 100."

"In Greek mythology, who is the god of love?"

The room was silent for a moment. Amy watched Sheldon mumble to himself as he tried to find an answer. Of course he didn't know. Amy rang her bell.

"What is Eros."

"Correct! And Fowler is back in the fight!"

"Abbreviations & Acronyms for 200." Amy wanted nothing more than to beat Sheldon.

"What do the letters CFS stand…"

Amy's bell rang before Howard could even finish the question. "What is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome."

"That's correct." Howard shifted in his seat. He could see that this wasn't a game anymore. This was a battle to the death. Amy vs. Sheldon. "It looks like Amy has taken the lead."

"You worried?" Amy whispered to Sheldon.

"Not in the slightest."

"You should be," Amy swept her hair back, "Animal Kingdom for 100."

"What mammal is known as the cobra killer?"

Amy stared into Sheldon's eyes. He had no idea. "Excuse me while I answer this." She rang her bell delicately in Sheldon's ear. "What is mongoose."

Howard paused as tension filled the room. Everyone was breathing quietly. Just waiting. "That is correct! Choose your category!"

"Language for 100," Amy said.

"Very well. What is the native language of Pakistan?"

Sheldon's bell chimed. The sound echoed in Amy's brain. That hideous, piercing sound. He was fighting back. "What is Urdu." Sheldon stared at Amy. He already knew the answer was correct, but he wanted to watch the light fade from her eyes as Howard confirmed it.

"Correct!"

Sheldon basked in sweet satisfaction. "U.S. History for 200."

"What was the name of the Apollo 11 space capsule?"

Sheldon watched Amy; the wheels in her mind spinning so quickly that smoke nearly seeped from her ears. "Care to take a guess?" he teased before ringing his bell. "What is Eagle."

"He's right! Next category!"

"Language for 200." Sheldon was so close to victory he could feel it on his skin.

"What is the native language of the Philippines?"

Just as Sheldon reached for his bell, he heard the infernal chime from across the room. Amy had beaten him to it. "What is Tagalog," she purred.

"That's right!" Howard looked down at his note cards for a moment and then called Penny over to him. They whispered in private for a moment before announcing, "Well, folks. It looks as though we have a tie and there is only one question left. Whoever answers this question correctly, wins. Are you ready?"

"Ready," they said in unison—so desperate for victory that they were nearly foaming at the mouth.

"Music for 200," Howard started. "The last question is: what artist released the album called _The 20/20 Experience_?"

Both Sheldon and Amy had a blank stare. No bells. No smiles. Just absence. The room was quiet as the clock continued to tick in the background.

"See, I told you that question was too pop. culture for them," Howard said to Penny.

"I thought they'd get it. Sue me!" Penny said as she downed another martini.

"So what does this mean?" Sheldon yelped in a need for closure.

"It means that we need to figure out another tiebreaker." Howard called a meeting and all gathered in the other room to decide on a new strategy.

Amy and Sheldon were left alone, but their thoughts filled the room with hundreds of forbidden voices, smothering them in a tidal wave of uncertainty.

_Why did she kiss me? What does he see in Emily? Could we ever work? Will we ever be together? Does she know that I want her? Does he know that I need him? Can we get past this? Do I want to get past this? Will things ever be the same? Can I keep him? Can I make her see what I see? Can I make him feel what I feel?_

Neither made eye contact. Neither said a word, just waiting in a hopeless paralysis.

The door opened, and Sheldon and Amy could breathe again. The room filled with sounds of chatting and laughing, and the earth began to spin on its axis once again.

"So," Howard said with a suggestive smile, "The tie breaker will be a battle of the sexes."

"The challenge: How well do you know your mate?" Penny winked at Sheldon.

"So, we're supposed to answer questions about one another?" Amy asked.

"Exactly. You will each be asked the same ten questions about your significant other. Whoever gets more questions correct, wins."

"This is absurd!" Sheldon whined.

"Pipe down and play!" Bernadette said as Sheldon jumped back into his spot.

"You each get a notepad," Penny continued," Where you will write your answers to the questions and after your significant other has answered, you can reveal whether he or she was correct. Here are the ten questions," she handed them each a piece of paper.

Both Sheldon and Amy grabbed their papers and panicked at the personal nature of the questions.

"Let the games begin!" Howard shouted.

"Okay, dude. That's getting really old. And you yelled right in my ear," Raj said.

"Sorry."

Sheldon grabbed his pen and began to write his answers in the notebook. Amy did the same while feeling apprehensive. Would she be humiliated when Sheldon ultimately answers every question about her wrong? Will she be forced to deal with the impending realization that maybe they just weren't right for each other?

"Okay, everyone ready?" Penny asked.

"Yeah," they sighed in unison.

"Alright, Amy will answer the questions about Sheldon first." Penny grabbed the paper and began to read, "First question: What is Sheldon's favorite food?"

"Spaghetti with little pieces of hotdogs cut up in it."

"Sheldon?" Penny pushed him to reveal his answer.

He held the notebook up. _Spaghetti with little pieces of hotdogs._

"You were correct, Amy!" Penny said in excitement.

"Question number two: What color are Sheldon's eyes?"

"Blue."

Sheldon turned the page of his notebook. _Blue._

"Correct again! Question number three: what is Sheldon's favorite word?"

"Bazinga."

Sheldon smiled and turned the page. _Bazinga._

"Question number four: what is Sheldon's favorite song?"

"The theme from Star Wars," Amy said with confidence.

Sheldon turned the page. _Star Wars theme._

"Way to go, Amy. You're on a roll. Question number five: What is Sheldon's favorite color?"

Amy hesitated for a minute. "Blue."

Sheldon turned the page. _Metallic Seaweed._

"What the hell kind of color is that, Sheldon?" Penny scoffed.

"It's my favorite color. It's whimsical-like me."

"Okay, well it's only one wrong, Amy. You can do this," Penny cheered. "Question number six: what is Sheldon's most cherished childhood memory?"

Amy smiled. She remembered the day Sheldon told her all about his grandfather. He sounded like a beautiful man. "Building trains on Christmas Eve with his Pop Pop."

Sheldon turned the page. _Trains with Pop Pop._

"Go Amy! Question number seven: what is Sheldon's biggest fear?"

"Failure."

Sheldon watched Amy for several seconds. Almost as if to say that he was hurt that she was so sure of her answer. He turned the page. _Failure._

"Wow. You really do know him. Ready to continue?" Penny asked.

"Yeah," Amy brushed her hair over her shoulders and tried desperately to keep her composure. She could feel herself losing control. She could feel her emotions moving into the driver's seat, and she hated it.

"Question number eight: what side of the bed does Sheldon sleep on?"

"In the middle."

Sheldon turned the page. _In the middle_.

"Keep going, Amy! Only two more questions. Question number nine: what makes Sheldon laugh?"

Amy giggled a little before answering, "Jokes about Howard."

Sheldon smiled and turned the page. _Belittling Howard._

"You're just jealous because I went to space and you didn't," Howard said.

"This has brought me joy long before your space trip," Sheldon laughed.

"Well, Amy, you're eight for nine. One more question. Ready?" Penny asked.

"Yes."

"Question number ten," Penny stopped for a moment and watched Amy and Sheldon closely, "What is Sheldon's biggest turn-on?"

Amy's mind went blank. She chased every last word in her head, but nothing created a coherent thought. Could Sheldon be turned-on? "I honestly don't know. I couldn't even make an educated guess."

The liveliness in Sheldon's face faded. How could she not know the answer; not even have an idea.

"Okay," Penny interrupted, "Show your answer, Sheldon."

"What for? She doesn't know so she's already gotten the question wrong. It's a moot point now." Sheldon closed the notebook and tossed it aside. Now it was his turn.

Penny shifted in her seat to face Sheldon and began the second round. "Alright, Shelly. Eight is the number to beat. Think you can handle it?"

Sheldon made no comment. He sat nearly lifeless in his chair as he awaited the first question.

"Okay, I guess we will just start. What is Amy's favorite food?"

"Avocadoes. Says they're a super food."

Amy held up her notebook. _Avocados._

"One for one. What color are Amy's eyes?"

"Green," Sheldon said with total focus.

Amy turned the page. _Green._

"What is Amy's favorite word?"

"Mellifluous."

Amy turned the page. _Mellifluous._

"Doing great, Sheldon. Surprisingly. What is Amy's favorite song?  
"The Way You Look Tonight," Sheldon said with no hesitation.

Amy's jaw dropped. How could he possibly know all of this? He's never listened to her for more than a few seconds. She turned the page. _The Way You Look Tonight._

"Wow, this is getting bizarre. It's like freaky Friday," Penny said. "Question number five: what is Amy's favorite color?"

"Yellow. It makes her happy."

Amy turned the page. _Yellow._

"You might just win this thing, Sheldon. What is Amy's most cherished childhood memory?"

"Going to the zoo with her Aunt Laura."

Amy was stunned again. She turned the page. _The zoo with Aunty Laura._

"Correct again. What is Amy's biggest fear?"

Sheldon looked at Amy with a certain understanding. "Loneliness."

Amy could feel the tears welling in her eyes. She turned the page. _Loneliness._

"I can't believe you've gotten this many questions right. What side of the bed does Amy sleep on?"

"The right. With a half glass of water and two tissues."

How could he possibly know that? Amy turned the page. _The right._

"Question number nine: what makes Amy laugh?"

"We do. All of us. Her friends."

Amy turned the page. _My friends._

"That's amazing, Sheldon. Do you even want to answer the last question? You've already won the battle."

"Ask me." Sheldon still watched Amy.

"Okay, what is Amy's biggest turn-on?"

"Knowledge."

Amy held the notebook up one final time. _Knowledge._

"You really do know your woman, Sheldon," Penny said as she stood up and walked towards the mini bar.

"Yes, I do," Sheldon whispered as he left the hotel room. He was hurt and confused. All he knew was that he was ready for this night to end. He glanced at Amy one last time and shut the door behind him.

* * *

"Hey, Sheldon left his notebook here. You wanna get kinky and find out what turns Sheldon on?" Penny asked Leonard in a seductive voice.

"That's the last thing I want to know. Let's just go to bed. We have an early morning ahead of us," Leonard said as he made the bed.

"I want to know," Penny said as she flipped through the pages.

"It's your funeral."

She passed question eight, question nine, and there it was –the answer to question ten.

"Oh, my god," Penny whispered to herself.

"What is it?" Leonard had to know, too.

Penny held up the notebook.

_Amy._

* * *

__**A/N: The next two chapters are very crucial to the story, so please stay tuned. But bear in mind that things must always get worse before they can get better. I promise to take good care of the Shamy, despite whatever may come. Read, review, enjoy.**


	9. Chapter 9

"So, the night's still young. What are we gonna do?" Howard asked Raj and Bernadette.

"Well, it looks like it's just us," Bernadette answered, "Leonard and Penny are already in bed."

"Wanna gamble?" Howard suggested, but Bernadette immediately glared at him. "Oh, come on, Bernie. We can drag Sheldon and Amy and watch him choke again! What could be more fun than that?"

"There's only one problem," Raj chimed in, "It's Saturday night."

"So?" Howard replied.

"Laundry night."

"We've only been here two days. How could Sheldon possibly need to do laundry?" Howard rolled his eyes.

"He's crazy. Let's just gamble without him. I still haven't got to play with the dolphins."

"Vagina!" Howard said under a cough.

* * *

"You brought your dirty laundry with you?" Amy asked as she watched Sheldon unpack his second suitcase.

"It needed to be done," Sheldon said.

"Why didn't you do it before we left?"

"Because that was Friday. I don't do my laundry on Friday."

Normally Amy found his quirks cute, but the battle of the sexes left her perplexed and unsure of her relationship with Sheldon. He knew all of those things about her, but never seemed to pay any sort of attention to her. Was he so complex that she couldn't figure him out, or was he simply closed off because he had no desire for her? Either way, she felt further from him than ever.

"Suit yourself," Amy sighed, "I'm going gambling."

"It's pointless. All of those games are fixed."

"Then they're fixed in my favor because I'm not the one who lost $2500," she said as she walked out the door.

_Then they're fixed in my favor. _Sheldon mimicked her in a whiney voice. _I'm not the one who lost $2500. _He continued as he unpacked his clothes.

* * *

"I didn't expect to see you here," Sheldon said in surprise as he entered the laundry room of the hotel.

"Oh, hey! Yeah, laundry night," Emily said as she held up her dirty clothes.

"Well, this truly is a treat," Sheldon said as he placed his basket next to hers. "I've been dying to ask you about your theory on particle acceleration."

"Oh, really? Most people aren't interested in that anymore since it was disproven."

"Yes."

"So you know it was disproven and you still want to ask me about it?"

"Yes," Sheldon said as he brought his basket to the washing machine and meticulously placed each article of clothing inside. "It's not the theory that I'm interested in. It's how you reached the conclusion. The thought processes must have been astonishing."

"I can't tell if you're mocking me or are genuinely interested," she said and walked to the machine across from him.

"My interest is genuine, I assure you." Sheldon finished putting his clothes in the machine and set the dial.

"Well, it came to me in the afternoon," Emily started. "I hadn't been able to focus at all that day. My office was too old, they were serving day old pizza in the cafeteria, and I locked my keys in my car while heading to work. I was three for three."

Sheldon nodded his head in understanding while leaning against the washing machine. The vibrations traveled through his body in a gentle rhythm.

"But the afternoon came, and everything felt different. The sun filled my office with warmth and the university was winding down for the night. I hadn't heard a soul for hours. And…" she trailed off.

"And what?" Sheldon probed.

"It won't interest you."

"Anything concerning science interests me. Please, continue."

"Okay. And then I got a call from my fiancé,"

"Oh, I see." Sheldon seemed taken aback by the direction of the conversation.

"And it wasn't anything special. He called to tell me a joke that he heard. A simple, arbitrary joke that made me smile. And that's all it took."

"A smile? To make what could have been a life-altering discovery?"

"Not the smile," Emily said quickly. "The happiness. Knowing that I had someone in my corner no matter what. Knowing that whether I won or lost, succeeded or failed—I'd be loved when I got home."

Sheldon's face was perplexed. For the first time in his life, he felt completely naïve.

"And that's when I realized my theory. It was a moment of perfect clarity that only love can bring."

"Are you trying to say that love was your inspiration for scientific excellence?"

"It used to be."

"Why'd you stop?" Sheldon couldn't understand why someone would give away their inspiration, however foolish or nonsensical it may be.

"It wasn't my decision. I was ready to spend the rest of my life with him. But sometimes things just don't work the way you want them to."

Emily stared into the distance as the washers chatted in the background. "Loneliness is awful. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."

Sheldon thought of Amy. Of her eyes. Her hair. Her laugh. But even with his eidetic memory, the visuals were faded.

_What is Amy's biggest fear?_

_ Loneliness._

"I think I can understand that," he finally said.

Sheldon felt uncomfortable, but tried to put himself in her shoes. He'd had his own share of loneliness growing up, something he would never utter to another soul. He was too proud to admit that the social convention of love and friendship had eluded him nearly all his life. And he was too proud to show that he cared.

"I've heard that recalling the good times we've had in our life can help ward off loneliness," Sheldon said as he recalled what he had read on Google many years ago. "Maybe you could disregard the bad times you had with said fiancé and just focus on the good." Sheldon recalled the very first time he heard Amy laugh. There was something intoxicating about the tone.

She smiled as she held back her emotions. "That's very sweet of you."

Sheldon shook his head in affirmation as if he had just made a successful business transaction.

"You're not what I expected," Emily said while looking up at him. "I expected to meet a robot, a man with no relation to the outside world. But you have a heart. It's deep inside-but it's there."

Sheldon stood with his arms folded, unsure of what to do.

Emily touched his hand gently and paused. Her eyes watched his face, a pale map of soft skin and freckles.

She no longer saw a robot.

She saw a man.

She stepped forward onto her tip-toes and kissed his lips softly. The washers continued to whir.

"Oh, dear!" Sheldon yelped as his body tensed and pulled away.

Emily could see the terror in his face. "Oh, my god. I am so sorry, Sheldon."

"Oh, dear," Sheldon said as he paced around the room.

"Are you okay?"

But Sheldon heard nothing. His mind was reeling. Analyzing every moment, every action they had just made. Analyzing the germs on his lips and the pathogens now floating freely in his system. Analyzing the unrest he felt deep in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm sorry," Emily whispered and left the laundry room.

Sheldon paced frantically and tried to regain his breath. "But wait! The sign says not to leave laundry unattended!" he shouted.

* * *

An hour had passed. Sheldon hadn't moved. He washed his mouth repeatedly with the laundry detergent, but he could still feel the pressure of her lips. What was this awful sensation?

A buzzer sounded that seemed to wake him from his trance.

His clothes were dry.

A welcomed distraction.

He opened the dryer door and gasped in fright. Red everywhere.

His clothes were stained irreparably.

He clawed through the clothes to find the source and there it was—a hideous stick of blushing cherry lipstick. A calling card of a Vegas lady of the night, no doubt.

"Good lord!" Sheldon stammered, wishing he had his paper bag to breathe into.

His clothes were ruined.

* * *

Sheldon stared aimlessly at his bed. The room was dark and he wanted to sleep, but he had no pajamas. He was missing Saturday night's pajamas. A cardinal sin if there ever was one.

He could sleep naked.

If he were a heathen.

No, his only option was to sleep in the clothes he had on, the clothes he had worn all day, the clothes that were now infested with the germs of his own body as well as those of the city of Las Vegas, and the clothes that had witnessed the kiss that he could never undo.

He crept into the bed like a soldier coming home from war—battered, bruised, and wanting to forget. He wanted to sleep and let his mind relax. He pulled the blankets up to his chin but they felt different. They slid along his clothes, but it was an alien sensation. He needed his pajamas.

He watched the clock. 9:12. 9:13. 9:14.

"Nope," he said as he threw the blankets to the side and decided he simply wouldn't sleep until he could purchase new pajamas. There was only one other thing to do in the hotel at this time of night and Sheldon dreaded the very thought.

* * *

"Blackjack! You win!" the dealer shouted as he passed that infernal Spanish 21 table, the table that defied all laws of logic. The table that kicked his ass.

"Care to try again?" the dealer asked after recognizing Sheldon.

"Never. This whole setup is fixed."

"I promise it's not," the dealer said genuinely.

"Pass." Sheldon watched as an elderly couple sat at the table. He listened as the man explained the game to his wife. Nothing Sheldon didn't know.

But the man continued to talk.

"The betting options are better than traditional blackjack, so you have the opportunity to make more money. But they make you pay by removing all of the tens from the decks," the man explained.

"Excuse me, did you just say that there are no tens in these decks?" Sheldon interrupted.

"That's right."

Sheldon thoughts ran wild. _That's twenty-four cards unaccounted for. My calculations were perfect. It was my control group that was flawed. _

He opened his wallet and sat next to the couple.

"Deal me in."

* * *

"Can I talk to you?" Emily said to Bernadette who was busy playing the slot machine from hell.

"Yeah, this machine is crap. What's up?" Bernadette turned in her chair.

"I…" Emily tried to organize her emotions, but there was no sense to be made.

"You okay?"

"I think I made a terrible mistake."

"Oh, my god. Is everything alright?" Bernadette became very concerned.

"I had a long talk with Sheldon in the laundry room. We finally had a chance to get to know each other, and things got out of hand."

Bernadette was completely confused.

"I kissed him, Bern. I kissed him right on the lips."

"You did what?" Bernadette's voice grew louder.

"Please, keep your voice down. I said it was a mistake."

"You bet it was a mistake. Sheldon is in a relationship."

"I know. And I really like Amy. I just got caught up in the moment. He was so sweet to me."

Bernadette softened her body language. It was beginning to make sense to her.

"I think I understand," Bernadette said gently. "How did Sheldon react to the kiss?"

"He seemed pretty upset. Kept saying 'Oh, Dear.'"

"That's because it wasn't a moment for _him._"

"What do you mean?"

"Sweetie, Sheldon reacted that way because he had no idea you were going to kiss him. You could have sent him a personal invitation, and he still wouldn't get the hint."

"So, I misread everything?"

"I'm sorry. He hasn't even kissed Amy. He's just not like that."

"I feel so stupid."

"It will all be okay, but Amy can never know of this. It would break her heart."

* * *

"Blackjack! You win!" the dealer shouted.

"What the hell? Is that Sheldon?" Howard asked as they walked toward the Spanish 21 table.

"Looks like it," Bernadette answered as Emily crouched behind her, hoping to avoid being seen.

The closer they came to the table, the larger Sheldon's stack of chips became. They had never seen so many chips in front of one person.

"Good god, Sheldon," Howard said. "There has to be at least a quarter of a million dollars here."

Sheldon looked up to see his friends completely flabbergasted. "$376,000 to be exact."

"How?"

"It's easy."

"You're not counting cards, are you?" Howard whispered to Sheldon.

"Don't be ridiculous. I haven't counted anything since I was three years old."

"So you're saying you know what cards will be dealt?" Raj asked skeptically.

"Yes," Sheldon said confidently. "My next hand will be a queen and an eight, which will narrowly beat the dealers jack and seven."

"This I gotta see," Howard scoffed.

The cards came exactly as Sheldon had predicted. He had won. Again.

Just as Sheldon collected another mammoth stack of chips, Amy approached.

Sheldon's heart leapt into his throat.

"Finally found you guys. What's going on?"

"Sheldon's robbing the casino blind," Bernadette whispered.

Amy saw the stack of chips and felt proud and ashamed all at once. "Looks like he's just winning at everything these days."

"Would you like to place another bet, sir?" the dealer asked Sheldon, who was very distracted all of the sudden.

"Umm, just bet it all," Sheldon said, hoping to lose and be able to leave. He couldn't be near Amy. Not now.

"I don't think you want to do that, sir," the dealer advised.

"Do it."

The dealer called the floor manager to the table to confirm the bet. $477,000. On one hand.

The floor manager called security to stand by and the cameras zoomed in on Sheldon's face.

"Okay, deal," the manager gave the signal.

Sheldon's first card came. King of diamonds.

Raj raised his hand to his mouth in anticipation. Amy watched as her boyfriend was about to make history. Emily hid her head in shame.

Sheldon's second card. Ace of spades.

"Blackjack!" the dealer shouted. Howard and Raj screamed like girls on prom night.

"You win! $1,192,500."

A crowd had gathered around the table and all eyes were on Sheldon, the greatest blackjack mastermind of all time.

But his fifteen minutes of fame were over.

"Sir, please come with us," the floor manager said as the security guards grabbed Sheldon by the arms.

"I saw this coming," Howard whispered under his breath.

* * *

"I'm just saying that they could have given his money to me. They didn't have to confiscate all of it." Howard complained as they walked back to their rooms. "It's not like they can prove he was counting cards."

Sheldon rubbed his wrists gently. The marks from the hand cuffs still chafed. Amy tagged behind with Raj who was talking much more than she cared for, but at least someone was talking to her.

Sheldon pulled out his hotel key and realized he still had no pajamas.

"Can one of you drive me to the store?"

"You're kidding right? It's like ten o'clock," Howard replied.

"I need pajamas."

"You didn't bring any with you?"

Sheldon glared at Howard through narrowed eyes.

"Sorry, can't help you," Howard said feeling almost giddy at Sheldon's misfortune.

"Bernadette?" Sheldon asked.

"Sorry, Sweetie. I think Raj and I have had too much to drink. Maybe you could call a taxi."

Sheldon hung his head and nodded. He hated taxis.

"I'll take you," Amy said as she handed Raj to Bernadette.

Sheldon accepted, wishing he'd called a taxi when he had the chance.

* * *

The car ride was uncomfortable to say the least. Amy contemplated turning on the radio, but withheld, knowing there would be nothing but love songs on at this time of night. She fidgeted in the silence.

Sheldon fondled his phone as a means of distraction. It wasn't working. He felt his body filling to the brim with an uncontrollable energy that he knew could not be contained forever.

Just as they approached the store parking lot, Sheldon's phone vibrated and filled the car with light. Amy eyed the screen.

_ New text message from Dr. Emily Richards._

Amy felt her heart race in anticipation. Sheldon opened his phone.

_I'm so sorry for kissing you._

Amy felt her heart plummet to the depths of her stomach as Sheldon read the message and promptly closed his phone.

"Shall we go inside?" he asked.

"You go ahead," Amy whispered, hoping that the darkness would hide her tears.

"Very well."

It had been over a half an hour and still no sign of Sheldon. _He's probably convulsing on the floor after seeing some kid sneeze in his direction. And he'd deserve it too._ Amy said to herself.

_I better check._

She entered the store and heard the intercom sound, HELLO, SHOPPERS. WE WILL BE CLOSING IN EXACTLY TEN MINUTES. PLEASE BRING ALL ITEMS TO THE CASHIER.

But where was Sheldon? It's not like him to break the rules. Amy scanned every aisle.

Nothing.

"This is getting ridiculous," she said out loud. "I should just leave you here."

She passed the drinking fountain and stopped to quench her thirst when she heard him, the muffled drone of a very irritated Sheldon.

She glanced into the janitor's closet to find Sheldon organizing paper towels and toilet paper.

"Can you believe they leave this closet such a mess?" he said to Amy.

"Sheldon, the store is closing."

"They put the toilet paper next to the garbage bags. Morons."

HELLO, SHOPPERS. WE ARE NOW CLOSING. PLEASE BRING ALL ITEMS FOR PURCHASE TO THE CASHIER.

"Sheldon we need to get out of here. Did you find your pajamas?"

"I need to finish this."

"No, you don't," Amy said firmly.

"Amy, these stores are all the same. They say they are closing, but the employees are here for hours reorganizing the store for the next day. We have plenty of time. Now grab a stack of paper towels and start helping."

Amy sighed and sat next to Sheldon. The closet really did look terrible.

"Now, you take this pile and organize alphabetically according to brand, while I…"

The closet went dark.

The whole store went dark.

Amy fought the urge to say _I told you so._

They were closed.

Sheldon looked at his phone. Eleven o'clock exactly.

"Drat."

* * *

**A/N: And now the fun begins! Read, review, enjoy. Long live the Shamy.**


	10. Chapter 10

"I don't understand what is so amusing. You are supposed to be an officer of the law," Sheldon shouted while holding the filthy customer service phone several inches from his face.

"This is the Las Vegas Police Department, kid," the officer laughed. "We deal with real problems. Not people who claim they are locked in a mega mart."

"But we are locked in a mega mart!" Sheldon yelped.

"Then you're not in immediate danger. I'm sorry, but we can't help you. The store will open again in nine hours," the officer hung up the phone.

"Nine hours? Good lord!" Sheldon cried as he placed the phone back on its base.

"Still no reception?" Amy asked.

Sheldon looked at his cell phone again. "No," he said, "It's like we're locked in a tomb."

"Okay, well we're two smart adults. We should be able to think of a way out of this," Amy said calmly.

"_You_ may be smart. _I'm_ a genius."

"Okay, Sherlock. What's your plan?"

"Now hold on," Sheldon whined, "I never said I was a genius at department store engineering. I didn't get my degrees from an online trade school like Wolowitz."

"Then shut up," Amy said quickly.

"Fine."

"Maybe we can get a signal if we move closer to the doors."

"Oh, sure. That sounds like a _fantastic _plan," Sheldon said sarcastically.

"Doesn't matter. You forfeited your right to make decisions. Give me your phone."

Sheldon pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to Amy reluctantly. Amy hated the very feel of the device in her hand, knowing that Emily's text message was still nestled deep inside.

"It's almost dead." Amy walked to the doors and held the phone as close to the glass as possible.

Nothing.

"I think we might be stuck here until morning," Amy sighed.

Sheldon's face began to twitch.

* * *

"We could sleep on the couches in the furniture display," Amy suggested.

"Where hundreds of sweaty strangers have sat? I think not," Sheldon replied firmly.

"We can just get some new sheets in the bedding department."

"Amy, I'm surprised at you," Sheldon said as Amy squinted in the emergency lights to find the right aisle.

"What?"

"That's stealing."

"It's not stealing if we pay for them tomorrow."

"Amy, when we open that package, it is stealing. There has been no exchange of currency."

Amy took a crisp twenty dollar bill from her purse and set it on top of the cash register in the checkout lane. "There. Currency exchanged. Put on the pajamas."

"Fine," Sheldon huffed, "But you over-paid."

* * *

"How's the couch?" Amy asked as she and Sheldon tried to sleep in the furniture display.

"Lumpy," Sheldon replied.

"At least you got the long couch. I feel like I'm trapped in a womb over here," Amy said while trying to get comfortable on the small couch.

"This is ridiculous. We both know we're never going to fall asleep," Sheldon said and sat up.

"I don't know how _you_ could ever fall asleep," Amy mumbled.

"What do you mean by that?" Sheldon sat up straight. "I usually sleep very well."

"I'm just saying that from a neurobiological standpoint, guilt is an incredibly powerful stimulant. Most people have trouble sleeping under its watch."

"Why on earth would I be feeling guilty? I've done nothing wrong."

Amy sat up on her couch to see his face more clearly. He was serious.

"Wow. Well, I take that back. You should sleep like a baby." She grabbed her purse and began to walk away from Sheldon. Where she was going, she didn't know. Just away.

"Wait!" Sheldon called, "Is there something wrong, Amy? You've been acting strange ever since we got to Las Vegas. You didn't drink the water did you?"

"No, Sheldon." She continued walking.

"Then what's the problem?"

Amy turned and tried to harness her emotions which seemed to be taking on a life of their own. So much anger and jealousy and hurt racing through her veins. She breathed in and out, just the way she always had but it felt pointless now. She had already died on the inside.

"I know that you kissed Emily." Amy paused while her throat tightened. "I know that you told all of Caltech that we are having sex." Her voice began to crack. "And I know that neither have much to do with me." She turned and continued to walk. "And that, Sheldon, is the problem."

* * *

AMY, Sheldon said through the intercom. He'd searched the entire store for her with no success. PLEASE TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE.

He stood near the cash register in the checkout lane, eyeing the twenty dollar bill she had placed there earlier. PLEASE, AMY. I NEED TO TALK TO YOU.

But the store was silent aside from the hum of the florescent safety lights. Sheldon wondered how Amy knew about the kiss, but deep inside he already knew. He watched her read it in the car. He'd let her, hoping that it would make it easier in the end. That if she had heard it from him directly, she'd find it unforgivable. But that didn't matter now.

It was unforgivable.

He fiddled with his pajamas. They felt funny, not like his Saturday night pajamas. But they were blue. Amy always liked blue.

He thought of her smile, the way her eyes would ignite when she was happy.

He hadn't seen that in a long time.

I DON'T KNOW IF I EVER TOLD YOU THIS, AND I'M NOT SURE THAT IT MAKES MUCH DIFFERENCE NOW, BUT WHEN I FIRST MET YOU, I FELT INCREDIBLY THREATENED.

YOU WERE SO DIRECT AND FORTHCOMING. I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT JUST RUN ME OVER IF YOU WERE GIVEN THE CHANCE. AND YOU WERE SMART.

I THINK I HAD GROWN COMPLACENT OVER THE YEARS, HAVING BEEN FRIENDS WITH THE LIKES OF HOWARD AND RAJ.

AND THEN YOU CAME ALONG.

I'VE HEARD OF PEOPLE CLAIMING TO BE SWEPT OFF THEIR FEET WHEN THEY FELL IN LOVE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT FEELS LIKE, OR IF IT EVEN EXISTS. BUT I DO KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE KNOCKED OFF MY FEET. KNOCKED SO FAR THAT I WAS RATTLED.

YOU DID THAT TO ME. YOU CHALLENGED ME IN A WAY THAT NO ONE EVER HAS. AND I'M RELUCTANT TO SAY THAT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN YOU BEAT ME AT THAT CHALLENGE.

AND THAT'S WHAT YOU DO FOR ME. YOU MAKE ME BETTER. YOU PUSH AND YOU PUSH, AND EVEN WHEN I RUN, YOU PULL ME BACK. YOU MAKE ME FACE MYSELF.

AND AMY FARRAH FOWLER—YOU SCARE THE BEJEESUS OUT OF ME.

WHEN I'M WITH YOU, THERE IS A PART OF ME THAT CAN'T BE CONTROLLED. A PART OF ME THAT HAS BEEN DORMANT UNTIL NOW. A PART OF ME THAT I'M TERRIFIED TO UNLEASH.

Amy listened from behind a stack of magazines where she had been secretly wishing to be as beautiful as all of the celebrities. Maybe Sheldon would notice her then.

PLEASE COME OUT, AMY. Sheldon looked down at his hand that was wrapped in the sleeve of his pajama top as he held the stained phone piece. AND BRING NEW PAJAMAS.

* * *

Amy appeared in the main aisle way and Sheldon was relieved. She didn't look happy, but at least they were making progress.

"Finally," Sheldon said. "It doesn't even take Leonard that long to stop pouting. And you know how bad he can get."

Amy rolled her eyes and immediately turned to walk in the other direction.

"Okay, okay, okay. That was out of line," Sheldon said sweetly.

Amy smiled slightly and began to walk towards him again.

"You took _as long_ as Leonard does."

"Sheldon…" Amy glared.

"I'm sorry. Shall we try the couches again? I think I could get used to them."

"Okay."

They walked together is socked feet, but the silence was peaceful. There was a certain sweetness to their legs striding in unison.

They walked slowly. Everything was free and open in the aisle way. Nothing stood in their way, just the cool air of an abandoned department store sweeping over their faces. Amy could smell a faint hint of his aftershave.

But their gentle stroll was cut short. They reached the couches and went their separate ways. Amy to hers. Sheldon to his.

And there they sat. Unsure of what to say or do, hoping for some magical solution that allowed them to bypass this awful discomfort.

"Maybe you could sit over here with me," Sheldon said quietly, "Since your couch is so small."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Sheldon felt insulted.

"Because I'm still mad at you, Sheldon. You think that making a little speech over the intercom is enough to solve all of our problems?"

"Well, that was the plan."

"It didn't work." Amy turned her head away in disgust.

Sheldon adjusted he cushions on the couch to help him sit straight while he inspected his socks for dirt. Still clean.

"I didn't," Sheldon whispered so quietly that Amy could barely hear him.

"You didn't what?"

Sheldon paused and swallowed to relieve the tightness in his throat. "I didn't, in fact, kiss Emily. She kissed me."

Amy had so many questions racing through her mind. _Why did she kiss you? Why did you even allow yourself to be put in that position? Did you push her away? How long did it last? What did she say? What did she do to earn such an intimate moment with you?_

But Amy knew she could only ask one question before falling apart emotionally. One question that made all the others irrelevant. One question that decided the fate of their entire future.

"Did you enjoy it?" she whispered.

Sheldon waited for his breaths to slow before answering. "On the contrary," he said calmly, "I found the whole ordeal quite uncomfortable."

"Because of the germs?"

"That played a prominent role in the discomfort, yes."

"I don't understand you, Sheldon." Amy started to get very upset. She stood up and used all her might to refrain from yelling at him. "Another woman kisses you and all that you found wrong with it were the germs? You are a piece of work!"

Sheldon stood up quickly and grabbed Amy by the arms. "Would you please listen? This is very hard for me."

Amy's posture softened.

"Yes, the germs made me very uncomfortable. But that's not the reason I didn't enjoy her kiss."

Amy watched him intently, absorbing each word that seeped from his lips, like nectar.

"I didn't enjoy it because it wasn't—you."

Amy tried to smile, but she couldn't control her emotions anymore. "What am I supposed to do with that, Sheldon? Huh?" She pulled away from his arms.

"We are so screwed up," Amy started to pace in front of her couch. "I follow you around like a love-sick puppy, hoping that one day you'll reciprocate my feelings, but you never do. You never even notice me most of the time. And then you tell everyone that we're having sex?!"

Amy's voice grew louder. "Don't you see how wrong that is? Don't you care at all about my well-being? About my reputation? Or are you so focused on yourself that you can't even be bothered with anyone else?"

She sat down and held her face in her hands. "Why can't we just be normal?" she whispered behind her hands. "Why can't we hug and kiss one another? Why can't we talk and laugh and show one another that we truly care?"

Sheldon never thought about how much his actions affected Amy. Actually, he never really thought about how his actions affected anyone.

But Amy was hurt. Hurt because of something he did, and he couldn't live with that.

He walked to her couch and sat close to her.

"Amy," he said gently while brushing her hair aside. "Amy, look at me."

She wiped the tears from her face and looked at him through bloodshot eyes. He watched her face and all the pain it displayed. For the first time he could recognize the emotion. He could recognize her pain, and it killed him inside.

"Amy, I am sorry." He continued to watch her eyes. "I'm sorry for all of it."

She began to regain some color to her face.

"And you know how hard it is for me to say that."

She smiled slightly.

"This may be too little too late, but it's something that you need to hear. And it's something I need to say."

Amy braced herself for what he was about to say as Sheldon leaned closer to her.

"I desire you, Amy," he whispered. "I always have, but I have trouble expressing it. I told people that we were partaking in sexual intercourse because in some bizarre way, it made me feel like we were. It made me feel like we had that connection. And I know that's incredibly selfish, and _that_ is what I apologize for. I didn't think about how it would affect you, and for that I'm sorry."

"Sheldon, if you like the idea of us being intimate, why not simply _be intimate_ with me? Why make up such lavish stories?"

"Because I can't." Sheldon hung his head slightly.

"You can't be intimate? Why?"

"Because I can't get past the touching, and I can't get past the fear of failing."

Suddenly it all made sense to Amy.

"And there's nothing I want more than to please you, but I can't do it. Not yet." He looked at her and blinked to hold back the tears. "Maybe someday."

* * *

Amy placed her hand on top of his and for a while they simply breathed together, making themselves one. Until Sheldon broke the silence.

"Come on," he said as he grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet.

"Where are we going?"

But Sheldon didn't answer. He looked straight ahead while leading her with a grip that said he would never let go.

The aisles began to pass.

Aisle 6.

Aisle 7.

Aisle 8.

Sheldon glanced at Amy and smiled, but the smile was something that Amy had never seen. It was sweet and kind, but there was something in it that made her knees go weak.

Aisle 9.

Aisle 10.

Aisle 11.

Sheldon began to slow down when they reached the bed sheets.

"Oh, Sheldon," Amy sighed. "You don't need more sheets. The ones on the couch are still perfectly fine."

"Shhhh," Sheldon replied immediately as they turned down Aisle 12.

And that's when Amy saw it—the bed display.

Sheldon led her through the sizes, passing the twin and queen sizes.

They continued to walk until Sheldon found what he was looking for, the king size bed.

The bed was white—white sheets, white pillows, white comforter. Sheldon pulled Amy close to the side and looked at her intently. She could feel the heat coming from his chest.

"I don't need to touch you to be intimate with you," he whispered while gently lifting her onto the bed.

Amy could feel her heart begin to race and her palms begin to sweat. Was this really happening?

She set her purse aside and watched Sheldon remove his pajama top. His white undershirt clung to his slender frame.

He sat next to Amy while his eyes followed the curves of her body, tracing her thighs and hips in the process.

"Lie down," he whispered in Amy's ear.

Her chest began to heave and she slowly let herself fall onto the bed. She could feel Sheldon straddle her hips and crawl toward her face, like a tiger ready to attack.

He held himself mere inches from her chest while watching her lips. And now Amy knew what she was seeing. Something she never thought she would see in his eyes.

Lust.

His breath clouded her lips and flowed in ripples onto her neck. He leaned in closer, his lips nearly touching hers.

"I kiss you—on the lips," he whispered.

Amy moaned, her body quivering beneath him.

"My tongue touches yours," he said and released a heavy breath across her cheek as he moved towards her neck.

Such soft white skin, just waiting for him. He let the tip of his nose trace the outline of her jaw before arriving at his destination.

His hot, sweet release of air swept across her collar bone, and she could feel his shirt brush against hers.

"I kiss your neck gently moving towards your shoulder." The stubble on his face brushed along her skin.

"And lick your skin as go."

Amy wanted so badly to touch him, to touch every inch of his body, to feel him close to her. Her hands clenched tightly to the comforter.

Sheldon unbuttoned the top button of her blouse and pushed the fabric aside to reveal the freckles beneath her collar bone. She heard him slowly inhale her scent.

Sheldon wanted this to be touchless sex, but Amy couldn't help herself.

She brought her hands to his waist and began to slide them under his t-shirt. The warmth of his skin was intoxicating.

His muscles moved under her hands and she moaned again. Her nails began to press into the small of his back as she gently pushed his hips down onto hers.

Sheldon relaxed, allowing his weight to rest upon her with his face still buried in the curve of her neck.

Amy slid her hands up his back, pulling his shirt to his shoulders.

There was a perfect stillness as Amy waited to see if Sheldon would reciprocate. She could feel his heart pounding.

He sat up. Face flushed. Eyes bright.

And removed his shirt.

Amy's body began to tremble at the sight of his chest and stomach. He was thin but defined and she could feel a warm sensation beginning to grow between her legs.

She reached up to Sheldon's face and slowly pulled him close to her, longing for his lips against hers.

His face crept closer while he parted his lips.

But as he leaned closer, Amy could feel his hands moving down her arms and before she knew it, he had her hands pinned against the bed.

"I can't concentrate if you touch me," he whispered.

Amy checked herself, trying desperately to keep her hands to herself, but there was something strangely erotic about his forcefulness. The warmth between her legs continued to grow.

Sheldon had a firm grip on her wrists as he moved towards her breasts.

"I kiss your breasts, dragging my lower lip along their form," he said between breaths.

Amy arched her back to get closer to him, but he pressed her arms firmly into the bed to keep her at bay.

"Let me do this," he whispered.

Amy's breasts thrust up and down as she breathed heavily. She could feel her body racing towards orgasm. _Gerard's got nothing on this. _

Sheldon released his grip on her wrists as he traveled down her body, whispering sweet nothings as he moved.

But Amy could sense an apprehension in the air. Sheldon reached her navel and froze. He was beginning to panic.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked.

"I've never really thought about this. Where to go from here, I mean."

"There is no right or wrong way to do this, Sheldon. And believe me-everything you've done as of now has been so right," Amy exhaled.

"Whoo."

Sheldon took a deep breath to calm his nerves and for the first time, he was no longer afraid of failure.

"I run my fingers across the soft skin of your thigh." A fire began to travel through his body.

"Sweeping the tips closer and closer to your…" Sheldon couldn't bring himself to say the word. "Area."

Amy smiled. There was something endearing about his discretion, but her body continued to speed ahead.

"Oh, god!" Amy cried as Sheldon inched her skirt higher.

He brought his face close to her thighs and kissed her stockings lightly.

"I don't think I can last much longer, Sheldon," Amy whispered.

He continued as he hadn't heard a word she said and brought his mouth close to her swollen bud, pausing to heighten her pleasure.

He exhaled.

"Oh, my god!" Amy cried as her body raced to the most powerful orgasms she had ever experienced. Her body was tense while her fists gripped the blankets with knuckles gone white.

Sheldon jumped up in nervous apprehension. He'd never witnessed a woman orgasm before.

_Fascinating._

Her body began to relax and Sheldon knew that it was over. He slipped his t-shirt on and lay next to Amy, whose mind still seemed miles away.

"Was that satisfactory," he asked in genuine concern.

Amy's glassy eyes looked at him. "Gerard has lived his last day," she said in a daze.

"What?"

"Nothing," Amy sighed with a smile.

* * *

**This chapter was a little more challenging to write, but I hope you liked it. Read, review, enjoy. Chapter 11 is in the works.**


	11. Chapter 11

"Ma'am? You can't be here." A boy barely seventeen nudged Amy on the shoulder while she slept soundly on the bed of her dreams. "My manager is coming," he urged.

Amy suddenly opened her eyes when she realized that it was morning and that she was still on the display bed with her hair mussed and her skirt bunched up by her thighs.

"Oh, my god. Sheldon?" She looked left and right but was alone.

"Did you sleep here last night?" the boy asked.

"Of course not!" Amy said as if she were gravely offended at his insinuation. "I was just resting my eyes."

"Right."

Amy gathered her things and sloshed off the bed. This day was not living up to her expectations.

"Twerp."

* * *

Sheldon began to fidget in anticipation as he waited in the breakfast line at the hotel. It was French toast day after all. His phone rang in his pocket.

"Hello."

_Where are you, Sheldon? _

"I'm at the hotel. Is something wrong?"

_Is something wrong? Hmmm let's see—maybe the fact that my boyfriend left me in a department store on a display mattress._

"But you were still sleeping."

_Then you wake me up!_

"I see."

_Why are you at the hotel already?_

"It's French toast day."

_You're kidding._

"Excuse me?"

_Goodbye, Sheldon. _

Sheldon watched the light go out on his phone's screen. "Curiouser and curiouser." But it was his turn in line. He held out his plate. "More syrup, please."

* * *

"You didn't lose the tickets did you?" Penny asked Leonard.

"No, I did not lose them," Leonard said righteously. "I just can't find them. There 's a difference."

"All I know is that if I don't get to see The Blue Man Group while we're here, you're sleeping with Raj tonight," Penny said smugly as she watched Leonard scamper around the room frantically.

"I know they're here. I saw them just a few hours ago."

"Did you check the pockets of the jacket you wore to breakfast a few hours ago?"

Leonard hung his head in shame as he reached into the pocket and found the tickets.

"Found 'em," he mumbled.

Knock, knock, knock.

Penny answered the door to see Howard, Bernadette, and Emily looking ready to take on the town.

"So, what should we do 'til the show?" Howard asked excitedly. "It is our last day here, afterall."

"I don't know," Penny answered, "We have plenty of time. Wanna check out the brochures and see what we can do 'til tonight?"

"Oh, we may have a problem," Leonard interrupted while he held the tickets close to his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Penny questioned.

"Uhhh, well we may not have time to do much before the show."

"Why? It doesn't start until 7:30 pm."

"That's true. There is a showing at 7:30," Leonard tried to avoid eye contact, "But our tickets are for the twelve o'clock showing."

"What?" Howard hissed. "That's in forty-five minutes!"

"You got matinee tickets?" Penny glared.

"I didn't request them," Leonard said with his head still facing the floor. "They must have given me the wrong tickets."

"Well, what do we do now?" Bernie asked.

" We get our butts in gear and get over there. I'm not missing that show."

"Okay," Howard said, "But I don't even think Raj is awake."

"Yeah, and Amy never came back to our room last night," Emily added.

"That's odd." Leonard said in a concerned voice. "Come to think of it, I didn't hear Sheldon do his gurgling and oral hygiene routine last night. I actually couldn't sleep without the sound coming through the wall."

"Wait, so they never came home after Amy drove him to the store?" Bernie asked.

"Looks like it," Howard said.

"Who cares. Find them and tell them to meet us downstairs. We have forty minutes to make this work," Penny urged.

* * *

"I'm not going to see that preposterous display of human stupidity," Sheldon huffed as he stood in the doorway of his hotel room.

"C'mon, dude. They already paid for your ticket," Raj said while Howard held the ticket up for Sheldon to see.

"I didn't ask them to. I told them I had no interest in going."

"Fine." Raj threw his hands up in frustration. "Can you at least tell us where Amy is? We're kind of in a hurry."

Sheldon paused in thought for a moment before answering. "Still at the store, I assume," he said nonchalantly.

"The store? You saw her leave?" Howard asked.

"Yes, last night. She drove me there."

"Sheldon, that was yesterday."

"I know. We got locked inside last night and they only opened a couple hours ago, most of which she slept through, so accounting for breakfast and driving time, she's probably still out."

"What the hell?" Howard said. "I am so confused."

"Well, that's nothing new," Sheldon said as he shut the door.

"Ass," Howard mumbled.

* * *

Penny and Leonard rushed towards Howard and Raj. "So, is he coming?" Penny asked.

"No. You expected that, I'm sure," Howard began, "But he said that Amy's not here. Something about them getting locked in a store overnight."

But just as Penny was going to speak, she was brushed aside by a faceless person with disheveled hair and wrinkled clothes.

"Move it or lose it, bubba," the person said hoarsely.

Penny looked closely only to realize that it was Amy. And she looked terrible.

"Amy? Are you okay?"

"Oh, hey bestie. I've been better."

"God, Amy. You look awful."

"Then the outside matches the inside. Thanks for this trip, bestie. But please don't ask me along next time. I don't think I'd survive."

"What's going on, Amy?" Leonard asked.

"I'll tell you what's going on. Between Sheldon making up very intimate details about our sex life, getting locked in a store together over night where he made many of those intimate details come true and proceeded to leave me there to rot, his nauseating obsession with that Emily chick, and the fact that she had the fucking audacity to kiss him in this very hotel has been quite a bit to deal with in two days. Now," Amy brushed the hair from her face and breathed in deeply, "I have some business to attend to."

She threw her shoes to the side and pounded on Sheldon's door. "Sheldon Lee Cooper, open this door right now or you won't live to see another day!"

Sheldon answered in a flash and shuddered behind the door. He'd never seen Amy this angry. He was terrified, but his fear was laced with an unnamed emotion—one that burned in the pit of his stomach. One that mad his groin feel—odd.

Amy stepped inside and slowly closed the door behind her.

"Enjoy the show," she said to Penny.

But the real show had just begun.

* * *

"Sit." Amy pushed Sheldon on the bed.

"You know," he stammered, "That show they are going to see sounded very good and I was very much looking forward to it. Shall we join them?"

"Why did you act like that last night, Sheldon? Was it some kind of game?"

"What do you mean?" he yelped.

"The sex! Or a version of it. How can you do that and then ditch me as soon as the sun comes up?"

"It was French toast day."

"So you're saying that your routine is more important than I am?"

Sheldon didn't answer.

"Last night obviously wasn't a part of any routine. Why was that acceptable?"  
"We were locked in a store," he began, "There was no routine to be had. I simply did the best I could to maintain some semblance of order."

"So that's all it was? Just a fluke occurrence because the order of your daily life was momentarily altered?"

Again—Sheldon declined to answer.

"What if I asked you to repeat last night, right now? What if I asked you to make me feel exactly as I did then? What would you say?"

"It's Sunday. We have nothing like that scheduled, and more to the point, it's not in the relationship agreement."

"The relationship agreement…" Amy mused. "It all comes down to the relationship agreement."

Amy paused.

"Fine. Let's change it."

"Oh, Amy. That could take weeks. I need time to research and prepare. Not to mention I don't have my notary stamp."

Amy walked to the adjoining door, opened it, and turned to Sheldon just before it closed. "Meet me here. You have one hour."

* * *

**Thank you again for all the kind reviews. They truly are a driving force for this story. They make me write faster. I'm glad so many of you are enjoying the story thus far. I will do my best not to disappoint. Until the, Long Live The Shamy! Ready, review, enjoy.**


	12. Chapter 12

"That bitch!" Penny ranted. "I can't believe she kissed Sheldon. What kind of person does that!"

"She said she was sorry, and I believe her," Bernadette tried to defend Emily.

"You knew about this? How could you not tell me?"

"It seemed like a private matter."

"And you still consider her a friend?"

"We've been friends for a long time now. I can't just ditch her because she made a mistake."

"I can't imagine how Amy must be feeling right now," Penny said while shaking her head.

"I told you that Emily was sorry. She apologized."

"Did she apologize to Amy?"

Bernadette remained quiet, knowing that her answer wouldn't please Penny.

"Then she hasn't apologized at all," Penny said as she walked down the hall towards the lobby, but the show was the last thing on her mind now.

* * *

"You seem really distracted, honey. What's wrong? You're not even watching the show," Leonard said into Penny's ear as the Blue Man Group continued to pound away on stage.

"It's nothing," she said while glaring at Emily who was sitting several seats down.

"It can't be nothing. You look furious. Did I do something wrong? If it's these tickets, we can leave and I'll get more for the later showing if they're not sold out."

Penny broke her trance and looked at Leonard. "Oh, no. It's nothing like that."

Penny took a deep breath. "I just don't know what to do."

"About what?" Leonard asked sweetly.

"Emily kissed Sheldon."

"Kissed Sheldon? Why? Was she giving him mouth-to-mouth, because I can't think of any other reason why someone would willingly try to kiss him."

"I'm serious. She gave him a very romantic kiss on the lips."

"Wow. How does Amy feel about all of this?"

"Terrible, I'm sure. And that bitch didn't even apologize."

"Maybe she's planning on it."

"Don't you start sticking up for her too."

"Honey, it's not our business. Amy, Emily, and Sheldon are adults—well maybe not Sheldon—but they can work this out themselves. If we get involved, it will only make things worse."

"You're probably right," Penny said softly and rested her head on Leonard's shoulder, but she couldn't let it go. "I'm going to talk to her."

Penny stood up and began to wade through several sets of legs on a mission to put Emily in her place.

"Are you enjoying the show?" Raj said into Emily's ear.

"Very much. I had no idea this show was so exciting!"

"Yeah, I picked it out. I have good taste," Raj boasted but Emily couldn't hear him over the music.

Emily watched the show intently. Raj loved how her bangs fell softly along her cheek—the perfect accessory to such a beautiful face. He felt strangely confident while watching her, like he could fly if he wanted to. Something about her made him feel alive.

He wiped the sweat from his palm and slowly began to reach his arm around her shoulder.

A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, making him feel as if he were moving in slow motion. But just as his arm was ready to rest across the top of her shoulders, he felt his legs being kicked by a very determined force.

"Move, Raj," Penny demanded as he jumped in his seat to let her by.

Penny grabbed Emily by the arm. "We need to talk."

Emily felt confused and nervous all at the same time. She had never said much to Penny aside from quick pleasantries and now she was being dragged out of the theater to talk. This couldn't be good.

Light seeped into the theater when Penny opened the door, but all too soon it closed behind them—taking with it all means of sanctuary. The awkward silence made it difficult to breathe.

"Is it true?" Penny asked bluntly.

"Is what tr…"

"Did you kiss Sheldon?"

Emily looked into Penny's eyes but said nothing.

"Well?"

Emily hung her head. "Yes."

"I knew it. You should be ashamed of who you are."

"I am," Emily said, "And I truly am sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen. It's just been really hard for me these last few years, and Sheldon made me feel—comfortable with myself again.

"Save your sob stories. They may work on Bernadette, Leonard or even Sheldon, but they don't work on me. You don't know a thing about Amy, do you?"

"Uh, well," Emily stammered.

"No, you don't. Because if you did, you'd know that she's perfect for Sheldon. That she puts him before herself time and time again. That she is willing to do anything to make him happy. Can you say you'd do the same?"

"Well…"

"Quite!" Penny shouted, "I'm still talking. Do you even understand how WRONG for Sheldon you are? I'm sure you're smart and educated and accomplished, otherwise Sheldon wouldn't have even given you a second glance. But that's on the surface. It's trivial. Amy's accomplished. She's smart and educated, but that means nothing to me, to Sheldon or to anyone. You know why? Because it doesn't matter how much you know in here," Penny pointed to Emily's head. "It's how much you know in here." And then she pointed to her heart. "And, sweety, you're heart is empty. That's where Amy has you beat. She wants what's best for Sheldon—not what's best for herself. That's something you'll never understand. And if you only remember one thing from this conversation, let it be this—BACK THE FUCK OFF."

Penny entered the theater again and left Emily in the silence.

* * *

Knock knock knock—Amy

Knock knock knock—Amy

Knock knock knock—Amy.

12:30 exactly. He couldn't even be late for an appointment he didn't want to keep.

Amy ran the comb through her wet hair one last time and answered the door. She'd had some time to cool off and was ready for what may be the conversation that changes the course of their entire relationship.

"Amy, you need to open the door before it is 12:31 or we'll need to start all over."

Or maybe not.

"I'm coming, Sheldon. The world won't end if I don't get there in time." She opened the door just in time.

"Well, I'm just glad we didn't have to find out the hard way." Sheldon entered her room with several stacks of papers in his hands as well as his laptop. But he still felt naked without his notary stamp.

They sat on the couch and remained quiet. There was something between them that couldn't be said. It couldn't be put into words, and they knew that. They had seen the best and worst of their relationship in just one weekend. They had felt alive, empowered, and alone all at once. They had been set loose into a world with no boundaries and it left them both gasping for air.

"Shall we begin?" Sheldon asked as he spread the papers out and organized them accordingly.

"I guess we should," Amy said quietly.

But the beginning wasn't the problem. They needed a destination, but neither truly knew what they wanted—what they needed.

Amy looked at the papers on the table and couldn't help but feel that they looked awfully familiar. "Sheldon, this is our current relationship agreement, word for word."

"It is not. I spent the last hour revising."

Amy flipped through the pages. "Sheldon, it's exactly the same."

"Look at page 18, section 5."

"In the event that Sheldon, the boyfriend, and Amy, the girlfriend, are locked in a store over night, neither is to leave without the other person for any reason."

Amy looked at Sheldon. "This is what you changed?"

"That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"Are you really that naïve? You can't be. You tell me all of these intimate things and proceed to make love to me in your own unique way, and then you pretend like nothing happened? We need to talk about this. As much as you want things to go back to the way they were before this weekend, it's just never going to happen. We're here-wherever _here_ is, and we need to deal that."

Sheldon stacked the papers one by one and set them aside. He opened his bag and pulled out a brand new mead notebook. College ruled, of course. And two pens. He handed one to Amy and kept one for himself. He opened the notebook to the first page and wrote on the top, _The Revised Relationship Agreement._

Amy smiled. They were making progress.

* * *

"So how did you like it?" Raj asked Emily as they walked side by side out of the theater.

"What I saw was very enjoyable," Emily said, but her smile was forced.

"Is everything okay?"

"I don't think your friend, Penny, likes me too much."

"Oh, don't take that personally. She gets like that around pretty women."

"Ha, I wish that was the reason."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I kissed Sheldon. And I know now that it was not only a huge mistake, but I may have hurt quite a few people in the process."

"Sheldon? Sheldon Cooper?" Raj gasped.

"Yeah, are you angry too?"

"Yes, but not for the same reasons. What could you possibly see in old smelly Shelly?"

"It was a mistake. I was lonely. That's all it was."

"Oh," Raj became very sympathetic. "I can understand that. I mean, I can REALLY understand that."

"Thanks," Emily said sweetly.

"Emily?" Raj asked, "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? Just us."

Emily thought for a moment about all the people that hated her right now, and was happy to go to dinner with a friendly face.

"Absolutely."

* * *

"I'd like to decide upon some parameters for our physical relationship," Amy said shyly as she turned another page in the notebook. They had already covered all clauses concerning aliens, time travel and the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

"But we don't have a physical relationship," Sheldon yelped.

"Exactly."

"But I thought that last night proved to you that we don't need a physical relationship."

Amy could see the fear in his face and felt terrible. "Oh, my god, Sheldon. No, I'm not belittling what we shared last night. It was the most amazing experience of my life. But…" she trailed off.

"But it's not enough," he replied.

Amy didn't know how it was possible that she could feel so awful even though he had hurt her so much this weekend. But she did. She loved him.

"We don't need to figure all of this out now. But can we at least agree on one thing before we close the subject?"

"What?" he asked.

"Can we agree to try? That's it. It doesn't matter how long it takes. It doesn't matter if we succeed or fail. Can we just agree to try?"

Sheldon remained quiet but nodded his head in agreement.

Amy moved closer to him on the couch, making sure to leave a small space between then. She gently placed her hand on top of Sheldon's and whispered, "Is this okay?"

Sheldon nodded again and appeared to be relaxed. "Shall we watch a movie?"

Amy smiled. "I'd love that."

"You choose," Sheldon handed her the TV remote and Amy flipped through the channels. Most of the channels brought in nothing but static, but the clearest picture she could find was a movie she knew all too well, _Casablanca. _

She set the remote aside and the two sat side-by-side and hand-in-hand in the arms of each other's company while the TV flashed black and white images on the walls.

Amy enjoyed the heat of his skin on her hand and found the whole experience healing. Sheldon was at peace for the first time that day and even found the courage to gently run his thumb across the top of her hand.

It was perfect.

Until they heard the door open and saw Emily and Raj enter the room.

Sheldon jumped up from the couch as if he had been doing something wrong. He watched Amy turn her eyes away after seeing Emily, and knew that she was trying to hide all of the pain and anger.

Sheldon felt a strong desire to protect Amy, and did something that he thought he'd never do. "I think you should leave," he said to Emily.

"No," Amy said. "You need to leave, Sheldon. You too, Raj."

The boys realized they were caught in something so much bigger than they ever thought. Sheldon stood close to Amy. "Are you sure?" he whispered. Amy nodded her head.

Sheldon and Raj left the room.

Both Emily and Amy stood like statues. Unsure of what was going to happen. Neither broke eye contact, but something had to be done and Emily was the first to break the silence.

"Can we talk?"

* * *

**Read, review, enjoy!**


	13. Chapter 13

**The build-up in this chapter is intended to be comedic. No one dies.**

* * *

"It's pretty quiet in there. You don't think Amy killed her do you?" Raj asked while pressing his ear to the adjoining door in Sheldon's hotel room.

"I doubt it. Amy wouldn't act so impulsively. If anything she would perform a very intricate, precisely planned, premeditated murder," Sheldon replied matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, that's not creepy at all," Raj said as he plopped on the bed and waited impatiently.

"I'm just saying that Amy is too smart for some spontaneous killing spree. I'm sure Emily is fine."

"Good, because we have a date tonight."

"Why on earth would Emily go on a date with you?" Sheldon seemed very intrigued, but soon his face softened and his usual look of smug condescension returned. "Well, I guess it does make sense that she would be forced to settle—since the only qualified candidate is off the market." Sheldon smiled arrogantly.

"Brad Pitt?" Raj asked quickly to knock Sheldon off his high horse.

"Make all the jokes you want. You're still just sloppy seconds."

"First of all," Raj stood from the bed and began to approach Sheldon, "You don't even know what that means, and secondly, you were never the 'perfect candidate'. You were just—there."

"Tell yourself what you want."

"That's what Emily told me."

"Oh," Sheldon squirmed a bit, feeling the boost in his ego beginning to deflate. "I think we should check on them."

Raj nodded in agreement and they approached the door together while trying to tip-toe. They reached the door but still heard nothing. There was something eerie about the whole ordeal. Sheldon began to quiver.

He reached his hand towards the handle in an attempt to open the door, but his fear got the best of him. "You do it," he said to Raj as he stepped back, bracing himself for whatever fallout lurked behind that door.

"Why?" Raj answered, hoping that Sheldon would suck it up and open the door anyway.

"I think you're right. She very well may have killed Emily."

"What?!" Raj said with a look of terror, "I always knew she was crazy!"

He took a deep breath and touched the knob on the door and turning it slowly for dramatic effect. The door inched open as both Raj and Sheldon eagerly peeked inside.

Darkness.

"Ah, dude. We've been listening through this door for two hours and they're not even here," Raj whined.

Sheldon opened the door all the way and turned the light on in Amy's room. They were gone. "Wanna get a sundae?" he asked.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Emily asked as Amy led them through a maze inside the hotel.

"I'm not going to talk to you here," Amy said firmly.

Emily could feel a pit forming in her stomach, a fear of the unknown. She watched Amy's back disappear behind countless corners, making her feel lost in this intricate labyrinth.

They approached the stairwell.

"Can't we just use the elevators?" Emily asked.

"No."

Amy motioned for Emily to enter the stairwell first.

Emily felt the pit in her stomach ignite with flames and leap into her chest. She didn't know Amy. She didn't what she was capable of. She didn't want to know.

"Let's go," Amy said.

Emily moved one foot in front of the other and found herself in the darkened stairwell with Amy nipping at her heels.

"Move," Amy nudged her down the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Emily asked again.

"Down."

_Down?_ Emily repeated to herself. The lights flickered like some cliché' trick in a haunted house used to frighten people.

It was working.

* * *

"Where's Ames? I haven't seen her since this morning. Is she coming to dinner?" Penny asked Sheldon as he ladled another helping of nuts onto his sundae.

"She's too busy killing the love of my life," Raj sulked.

"Everything is fine," Sheldon intervened. "She is just talking to Emily in private. Although—we don't know where exactly."

"Weren't they in the room with your guys?" Leonard asked.

"Up to a certain point, yes," Sheldon said quietly, "But then Amy asked us to leave."

Penny stood motionless for a while before speaking. "Okay, this is worse than we thought. I was angry with Emily before, but now I'm worried that she is alone with Amy. Amy is now a woman who has been cheated on…"

"Hey!" Sheldon yelped.

"Okay, cheated on _in a sense_, and we just don't know what she is capable of in this emotional state."

"So, what do we do? Emily and I have a date at 7:00." Raj asked.

"It's easy. Sheldon needs to find them and break it up before it gets out of control."

Sheldon looked up from his sundae in shock. "But what if I don't want to?!"

"It doesn't matter," Penny replied, "This is your responsibility."

"Why is it my responsibility?" he whined.

"Well, because it's all your fault."

"My fault? I had nothing to do with this!" he yelped.

"Sweetie, it's always the guy's fault. The faster you accept that, the faster you'll feel better."

Sheldon looked down at his mound of peanuts gently cascading over chocolate fudge and vanilla ice cream. Why couldn't all things in life be so sweet?

* * *

They reached the basement and walked slowly down the hall. It was all beginning to make sense to Emily. They approached a dimly lit door with a sign that was more than familiar to her—_Laundry Room._

Amy opened the door and escorted Emily inside. The lights buzzed and hissed as they slowly woke from their sleep. Various washers hummed in the background.

Emily watched Amy pace around the room in a concentrated fury. Her hair hid her face, making her menacing presence even more difficult to bear. Emily swallowed and attempted to comfort herself in the chilled draft.

Amy faced the furthest wall and whispered, "Where?"

Emily couldn't make out what she said and stood quietly, hoping Amy would simply leave it alone.

"Where did it happen?" Amy asked louder this time.

Emily took a deep breath and as she released it, she pointed to an open area in the middle of the room near the drain.

Amy couldn't understand it, but she hated that drain. She hated that area in the room. She hated Emily. She approached the area and was disgusted with herself for even letting her shoes interact with the floor.

"Have you ever been cheated on?" Amy whispered to Emily.

"Twice," she said quietly.

"And what did you do about it?"

Emily could feel so many old emotions beginning to surface. "I…" she stuttered, "I didn't do anything." She began to cry. "I didn't do any of the things I should have done. I just let myself fall apart inside."

Amy looked up, hair still in her face, and stared coldly at her adversary. "What would you have done about it if you were given the chance?"

Emily paused. "Look, Amy, please just let me apologize."

"What would you have done?!" Amy shouted.

"…I guess I would have wanted to hurt her—to make her pay for everything she put me through…"

Amy's anger was surfacing as she wiped a tear from her face. "Do you think you deserve a better fate?"

Emily immediately turned towards the exit, feeling for the first time that her safety was truly in jeopardy.

"Why'd you do it?" Amy asked calmly to alleviate Emily's fears.

"Because I wanted to. And because I thought he wanted to. I wanted to take back everything that was taken from me. And I never gave a second thought to whom it might hurt in the process."

"You had no right."

"I know that. I not only made a mistake, but I was wrong. I hurt you, and that is something I can never apologize enough for. But I hurt your relationship with Sheldon. That is something I can't forgive myself for. I put you through all the pain and anger that I experienced. And that's true selfishness."

"I can understand why you were drawn to Sheldon," Amy began. "That's something I can't question, but you kissed him in this hotel where I was only yards away. You kissed him after we talked and shared intimate details about our lives. That's not selfishness. That's vindication. I wasn't a casualty on the sidelines. I was the victim."

Emily stared at the floor and studied Amy's words. Could she be right? "I never thought about it that way. I never thought that I had a need to hurt someone to make myself feel whole again."

"We're all animals in the end. That's how we're programmed."

"Are you saying that everyone who has been hurt has a need to perpetuate the cycle and hurt someone else?" Emily asked in shock.

"Yes," Amy said. "But that's why people seek out religion, or knowledge, or even evolution. They're looking for an escape."

"Are you going to continue the cycle?" Emily asked apprehensively.

"No," Amy said bluntly, "Because I'm not like you. I didn't lose in this transaction. You did. I still have Sheldon, and we're closer than we've ever been. I still have my friends and a flourishing career. I still have my dignity and above all, I still have the courage to look myself in the mirror. That's something that you'll never have again. And that's why you will perpetuate the cycle. I just hope that your next victim can withstand the trials."

Emily's heart sunk even deeper into her chest when she realized that everything that Amy said was true. She had nothing left. Nothing to live for.

"I'm so sorry, Amy. And I really hope to prove you wrong."

Emily left the room and Amy basked in the scent of closure.

* * *

"No one needs to get hurt, Amy!" Sheldon shouted while running down the stairs. He had searched the entire hotel and kicked himself for not going to the laundry room first. It makes the most sense that she would come here. "Everything is going to be okay! I'm here now!"

He pushed open the door and saw Amy sitting on one of the dryers, swinging her feet from side to side.

"She's not in the dryer is she?" Sheldon asked breathlessly.

"Who?"

"Emily," he said.

Amy laughed and hopped off the machine. "No, she left about an hour ago."

"In one piece?"

"Yes, Sheldon. She's fine. We just talked."

"Oh, okay. Good." Sheldon let out a long-awaited sigh. "Is everything alright? With you, I mean?"

Amy looked at him and smiled a genuine smile for the first time since they arrived. "Yes."

She walked closer to him and held out her hands.

"Is this okay?" she asked again, putting his comfort above everything else.

His hands left his sides and slowly reached for hers. The shadow of her fingers crept over his palms before he felt the heat of her skin gently press against his, and for the first time he noticed how beautiful her eyes were.

And there it was again—that awful sensation in the base of his stomach. He cursed his body silently and attempted the use of Kolinahr to keep his system in check.

Amy rested her head against his chest and listened to his breaths move in and out, but they were pulsing much faster than she expected. So much for Kolinahr.

"Is everything okay, Sheldon?"

His eyes were wide as he looked at her and realized what he was about to do. What he was willing to do.

He put his hand just under her chin and pulled her close as he leaned down to kiss her lips. "Is this okay?" he whispered.

Amy smiled and stood on tip-toe and awaited the first kiss Sheldon had ever given her. Her eyes drifted shut and her body fell limp when his lips finally met hers—a sweet, gentle kiss that she'd waited for her entire life.

The lights flickered and the washers chattered as if the earth continued to spin.

* * *

Read, review, enjoy!


	14. Chapter 14

"Is everything alright? You seem—distracted," Raj asked Emily as they ate dinner over candlelight.

"I just feel guilty about everything. I never meant for any of this to happen. I just thought it would be fun to go on a vacation with some of my best friends, and I ruined it."

"You didn't ruin it. You just did some things that you weren't expecting. It happens to everyone."

"Well, up until this weekend, it hadn't happened to me. I'm usually the one who is so focused on work that I don't have time to screw things up. I'm beginning to wish I never left my lab. It's the only place I feel at home anymore," she said as she twirled her spaghetti aimlessly. "I don't think any of your friends will ever forgive me."

"Can I tell you something very personal that I am ashamed of to this very day?"

Emily's eyes livened a bit as she looked at Raj.

"I know you feel bad now," he said, "And you think that your actions have changed your part in these social politics, but you have to remember that time truly does heal all wounds. No matter how bad they may seem. I've done things, like you, that I truly regret. I slept with Penny after she broke up with Leonard. Okay, maybe 'slept with' isn't the best choice of words, but I still betrayed the unwritten rule that says you don't pursue a friend's ex. He doesn't talk about it much now, but I know I hurt Leonard. But he's such a great guy that he forgave me. That's what's great about this group of people. They have the biggest hearts."

"Thank you for sharing that with me, but it's not quite the same. They were broken up when that happened."

"When Howard and Bernadette were dating, I developed feelings for her. If I were a good friend, the kind of friend that I aspire to be, I would have kept those feelings to myself. But I didn't. I lusted after her. I told people about my feelings. I wrote poems, fantasized, and flirted with her. But worst of all, I hit on her. A friend doesn't do that."

"But you have such a good relationship with both of them," Emily said in surprise.

"That's what I'm saying. It's human to make mistakes, and that's something that these people understand. They may be upset initially, but they've all made mistakes of their own and could never truly condemn anyone else."

"So you're saying that maybe they won't hate me forever?"

"I'm saying give it time. And until then—be nice to my friend, Emily."

She smiled and took a bite of her spaghetti. Raj sipped on his grasshopper.

* * *

"Alright, boys, prepare for Halo 3!" Howard said as he waddled into Sheldon's room carrying a backpack with wires and controllers spilling out the side.

"You brought all of this with you?" Leonard asked. "Why didn't you just rent a system from the hotel?"

"Rent a system?" Howard laughed. "Are you kidding? My entire system is hacked. Faster game speeds, never before seen options and settings, not to mention codes and awesome player-on-player action, if you know what I mean," he said while winking at Leonard.

"Wow, that's pretty neat!" Leonard said. "Let's hook it up."

Howard set the backpack down and pulled out the Xbox. "Sheldon, can you hand me that cord?" Howard said while pointing to an open pocket.

Sheldon reached into the bag only to find several games that he had never heard of, each one with a more scantily clad robotic woman on the front. "Do you actually play these?" he asked Howard.

Howard popped his head out from behind the TV. "Oh, no. Wrong pocket," he said as he pointed to the other side of the bag.

"Thank god," Sheldon said as he set the revolting game back in its designated pocket and zipped it closed.

He reached for the cord and noticed that Amy had left her cardigan draped across the chair in his room—the arms folded precisely atop of one another as if on display in a store window. Perfection. He felt that infernal sensation again and excused himself to the bathroom.

"Alright, Cooper. Get a hold of yourself," he said as he shut the bathroom door and realized the subliminal sexual innuendo of his pep talk. "Ok, maybe not literally. But come on! You have two PHD's and a master's degree. You should be able to rid yourself of a simple feeling." He paced to and fro. "Even hippies can do that."

He grabbed a disinfecting wipe and turned on the faucet. He held a glass beneath it until it nearly overflowed and proceeded to drink it all in a single swallow. He looked into the mirror and then down at his pants, hoping that the sensation had been alleviated.

"Drat," he hissed as he noticed a bulge beginning to form in his trousers.

"Okay, Cooper. You are the master of your body. Now—take charge." He held his eyes shut and employed the power of the Vulcan art one more time, although it hadn't been very effective these last few days.

He concentrated on his breathing and began to scribble equations on his imaginary white board as a distraction. But the zero's turned to eyes—rich, sparkling, green eyes filled with lust. And the three's turned to breasts—plump and begging for attention. And the V's turned to…

"Good lord!" he shouted and stormed out of the bathroom.

He plowed past Howard and Leonard and sat on the couch with a pillow covering his lap. His toes tapped nervously.

"You gonna help us set up or not?" Howard asked impatiently.

"No," Sheldon said curtly.

"You're just gonna sit there?" Leonard asked.

"_Yes, I'm just gonna sit here!" _Sheldon mimicked Leonard in a child's voice.

"What's wrong with you?"

Sheldon adjusted the pillow. "You wouldn't understand."

"Okay?" Leonard answered with a quizzical look, "But you're crushing Amy's sweater."

Sheldon glanced over his shoulder to see Amy's olive green cardigan staring into his face. The smell of her perfume wafting gently into his airway.

"For the love of Pete!" he shouted and shuffled to the other side of the couch, paying particular attention to the position of the pillow as he moved.

"You seem pretty stressed, Sheldon. Can we help?" Leonard asked.

"Yes, I am experiencing some tension. And no, I do not need your help. I need relief." Sheldon eyed the cardigan again before sweeping it over the back of the couch where it would be out of sight.

Leonard watched his roommate and debated whether or not Sheldon were truly experiencing—what he thought he was experiencing. He smirked at the idea of Sheldon being stuck on that couch for the rest of the night with a pillow in his lap.

"It usually doesn't go away on its own," Leonard said to Sheldon.

"What?"

"The…uh…" Leonard casually pointed to the pillow.

Howard, sensing the awkwardness of the conversation, peeked from behind the TV and let out a bellowing laugh when he realized that Sheldon was sitting on the couch like a twelve year old boy with a hard-on.

"What on earth is so funny?" Sheldon said as he squirmed on the couch.

"Sheldon, you really should take care of that." Leonard tried to keep a straight face. He really did want to help his friend. It was just all so damn funny.

"Take care of what?" Sheldon tried to play dumb.

"The morning glory, pocket rocket, full salute, love pump, fun gun," Howard babbled.

"Okay, that's enough." Leonard could hardly breathe he was laughing so hard.

"Easy rider, pleasure piston, love torpedo, skin flute, super soaker."

"Okay, seriously. I can't breathe. No more," Leonard said while trying to keep himself from falling on the floor.

"Is the homo novus suffering from a homo erectus?" Howard continued.

Sheldon watched as his friends held their sides while gasping for air. "Can we just play the game?" Sheldon pleaded while grabbing a controller and waiting for Howard to hook up the TV.

Leonard gave Howard a signal to stop the teasing and the two wiped the tears from their faces. They continued to set up the system while Sheldon sat on the couch in embarrassment.

Howard attached the last wire and flipped the switch. Static spilled into the room. "Well, looks like the TV is TURNED ON," he said while winking at Sheldon.

"Okay, that's enough," Leonard said sympathetically. "We've all been there."

Sheldon clutched the controller in his hand and refused to make eye contact. "Jerks," he mumbled.

"Sheldon, you're obviously miserable. Why do you keep insisting that you're somehow superior to the rest of us? Just go take care of it, or it's just gonna continue to drive you crazy."

Sheldon didn't answer. Just stared at the pillow and dreaded the implications.

"It's easy, Sheldon," Howard said in a supportive tone. "It only takes a second."

"Maybe for you," Leonard chuckled, but Howard wasn't amused.

"No," Sheldon said firmly. "Not again."

"You've done…_that…_before?" Lenard questioned.

"Worst experience of my life."

"Wait, so you're saying you've done _that_ exactly one time in your life?" Howard asked in shock.

"Sadly."

"My thoughts exactly," Howard mumbled.

Leonard sat on the other side of the couch. "What happened?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sheldon turned away.

"C'mon, Sheldon. We're sorry about the teasing. It's just what guys do. It wasn't done maliciously. Tell us what happened."

Sheldon shifted in his seat while he readjusted the pillow. "Fine. I was fourteen. I was home from college, visiting my mother and sister over the summer. I learned about—_that—_in biology classes and was curious. I planned it out quite carefully. I heard that it could be messy so I acquired rubber gloves, several wash cloths, and a gallon of antiseptic. I sat in my favorite chair and touched myself in a way that wasn't clinical for the first time. I'll skip the details and skip to end. To my shock and disgust, it was messier that any biology class had made it out to be, so naturally, I let out a few panicked screams. My mother and sister heard them and raced to my aid, thinking I'd hurt myself. That's when they found me, sitting in my chair. Desperate to remove the filth that had just been spewed all over me."

"That's your trauma story?" Howard huffed. "My mom walks in on me all the time. You just gotta get back on that horse."

"As disgusting as that concept is," Leonard started, "He's right. It's not healthy to keep it bottled up like that."

"Let's just play the game." Sheldon was done with the whole conversation and craved a distraction. Any distraction.

* * *

"I had a really great time," Emily said while she and Raj stood outside of her hotel room.

"Me too," Raj said sweetly, "I wish we didn't have to leave in the morning."

"Well, thanks for listening and being so understanding. It really means a lot to me. You're very sweet." She leaned in and kissed Raj on the cheek.

"Maybe we could do this again sometime?"

Emily's smile faded. "I don't think that's such a good idea. We leave tomorrow, and it's probably best if we don't get too attached."

"Oh, I see. Okay. I just thought that maybe we could…"

Emily stopped him by putting a finger over his mouth. She opened her door and turned in for the night.

Raj watched the door shut and the lock on the door change from green to red.

* * *

"Alright, I'm done for the night. I can only lose to Sheldon so many times before I start getting the urge to slip things into his tea," Howard said as he stood from the couch and stretched.

Sheldon still sat on the couch with the pillow strategically placed.

"Yeah, me too," Leonard said, "About the being done for the night. Not slipping stuff in your tea."

Sheldon glared at his roommate.

"Although…" Leonard continued.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," Howard said. "Sheldon needs some _alone_ time."

They left the room and Sheldon was left in the room with nothing to comfort him but a gold pillow with red lace.

* * *

**Emily has received a lot of hate in the reviews, which I expected, but she was not intended to be a villain exclusively. She is catalyst used to drive Amy and Sheldon together, but more importantly she is a human being that is confused and alone. I've also received requests for Shamy sex. All I have to say to that is patience is a virtue ;). Read, review,enjoy!**


	15. Chapter 15

**The timelines in the end of the last chapter and this one overlap a bit to show what all the characters are doing at the same time. Just an FYI so there's no confusion while reading.**

* * *

Sheldon let the steam of the shower fill the room to the point where he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face, but he was still too embarrassed to remove his robe and confront his very independent lower half. He couldn't bear the idea of being completely alone with—it.

He stood by the sink and splashed some cool water on his face, but he knew he was just stalling. This wasn't going away.

He inhaled deeply as his hands touched the top of his robe in preparation for battle. They'd seen the carnage of masturbation once before and still hadn't recovered. But the troops below needed help. Their help.

He slid his hands towards the tie on his robe, undoing each lap of the knot with gentleness, precision, and desperation. The perfect foreplay.

His heart raced with each movement. The whole ordeal felt dangerous, exotic—forbidden. He'd held himself to such a high creed of humanity that this simple act of pleasure began to ignite his system like a hit of cocaine.

The last of the knot had been released, and he parted the robe with such determination and focus that he may as well have been parting the Red Sea. Steam began to cling to his bare chest.

But just as the part approached the danger zone, he lost his nerve and snapped the robe shut and tied it tighter than ever before.

This could take a while, and he needed a shower.

And after a long internal debate, he decided he would just have to suck it up and do what needed to be done.

He'd shower around the robe.

* * *

"So, this trip was interesting," Penny said while resting her head on Leonard's shoulder as they watched TV before going to sleep.

"Yeah, but you were here," Leonard looked into her eyes, "So, it was the best trip of my life."

"Aww!" Penny kissed him sweetly. "I just wish we didn't have to leave tomorrow. I've had so much fun."

"Well, that's one thing we have to look forward to."

"What do you mean?"

"We're going to spend the rest of our lives together. We'll have a lot more vacations like this. I'll take you everywhere."

Penny kissed him again. "Sheldon's shower has been running for like an hour," she said while breaking the kiss. "You think he's okay?"

"Oh, I really don't want to talk about Sheldon right now," Leonard said while trying to reinitiate the kiss. "He'll be in there a while. Just ignore it."

"Okay," Penny sat up in the bed, "What do you know?"

"And there goes the mood." Leonard sat up next to her and began to flip through the TV channels.

"Hey, Mister, what do you know?" Penny insisted.

"Nothing you want to hear about. It's gross."

Penny grabbed the remote and turned the TV off in one deft motion. "Spill."

"Ugh," Leonard tried to reach the remote, but Penny's Nebraska man hands were impenetrable. "Fine. Sheldon has a hard-on and refuses to take care of it. You happy?"

Penny stared at Leonard with a serious face before bursting out in laughter. "You're kidding!"

"Nope. He spent the whole night with a pillow in his nap."

"Oh, my god! How'd something like that even happen?"

"I don't know. He just saw Amy's sweater and started acting all weird."

"Oh, my god!" Penny jumped off the bed and began to dig through her purse.

"What are you doing?" Leonard asked.

"I've got to text Amy. She's gonna freak!"

Leonard rolled his eyes and grabbed the remote. "This night just keeps getting better," he sighed.

* * *

Amy slipped the silk nightgown over her head. She'd bought it ages ago to impress Sheldon, but wears it now simply for the comfort. It was smaller than what she was used to, but Victoria promised an amazing night sleep with said sleep attire.

She lied.

Amy had never once slept well in this particular nightgown. It made her dream of unspeakable things. It made her dream of Sheldon. Of his teeth ripping her clothes off. Of his body devouring hers.

Of him kissing her where she'd never been kissed before.

She usually awoke sore, tired, and strangely delirious. Not the best combination for someone dissecting brains the next day, but tonight was different.

Tonight she wanted to dream of Sheldon. She needed it.

They'd engaged in touchless sex, and Amy couldn't help but relive each savory detail in her mind. It was going to be a rough night.

But sometimes she liked it rough.

She swayed in front of the mirror as her mind began to slip into an erotic trance, only to be jarred awake by the sound of Emily unlocking the door after her dinner date with Raj.

"Shoot!" Amy hissed and scurried around the room. She hadn't seen Emily in hours and totally forgot that she'd be returning to their room.

Where should she hide?

The closet? No, Emily would be in there at some point tonight.

The bathroom? Stupid question.

Under the bed? Definitely not.

She needed to think fast and there was only one other viable option left—Sheldon's room.

She heard Raj say goodnight and resigned to the pressure. She grabbed her purse, opened the door to Sheldon's room and slipped inside just before Emily turned around.

His room was dark and smelled of his body wash, her favorite scent.

She could hear his shower running and decided to peek inside the bathroom and say hello. They were close enough to cross that line now…right?

* * *

Emily sat on the bed and removed her shoes when she heard her phone chime. A text from Raj.

"_I don't want to leave things like this. I want to get to know you better." _

She fiddled with her phone, debating whether to reply or not. "_I just don't think it's a good idea. I work a lot, and I wouldn't want to neglect you in any way."_

"_Just give me a chance. I'll prove you wrong."_

_ "Okay, what did you have in mind?"_

_ "Really?!"_

_ "Yes, really."_

_ "Go dancing with me tonight."_

_ "Dancing? But we just got back to the hotel."_

_ "You'll have fun. I know it. And if you still feel the same by the end of the night, I won't bother you again. We'll just go our separate ways."_

_ "Okay. When should I meet you?"_

_ "10:30pm. In the lobby."_

_ "Alright."_

* * *

Sheldon stepped into the shower and watched the robe wilt in the hot water. It clung to his body, revealing the outline of his situation in plain view.

He pushed his head under the stream of water and let it cascade down his face. Spock's human half must have nearly killed him.

"This is ridiculous," he mumbled while keeping his eyes closed in the flow of water.

The door of the bathroom creaked open and Amy looked inside. "Sheldon?" she called.

Sheldon immediately stood at attention—all of him—at the sound of her voice.

"Amy?" he yelped while his chest heaved in nervous apprehension.

"Yeah, sorry I'm here. I know you like to have plenty of time to shower, but Emily is I our room and I just didn't feel like dealing with that tonight."

"Amy?" Sheldon said while remaining perfectly still.

"Yeah?"

"You can't be in here." He tried to keep his voice calm.

"Oh. I just thought that after everything that happened, this would be okay."

Sheldon's erection began to throb knowing that she was so close. He bit down on his hand to keep from calling out her name.

"Maybe you could just wait outside until I'm done," he whispered quickly and bit down on his hand again.

"Okay? Is everything alright, Sheldon?"

Sheldon felt his erection pulse at the thought of her.

"Everything's…" he started in a voice much higher than his usually tone, "Fine." He shoved his hand back into his mouth and waited for her to leave.

"Okay, well I'll be out here. Let me know if you need anything."

That was the final nail in the coffin. Sheldon's body was on the verge of a meltdown.

"Mmhmm," he squeaked and Amy shut the door.

"Good god!" he shouted as he pulled his hand out of his mouth. The teeth marks were deep enough to break the skin.

He turned his back to the water and was determined to make this infernal display go away. He tried pushing it down, as if he truly believed that would help.

He held it between his legs and smiled a bit because it appeared to be working. It was down.

Until it slipped out, and he was back to square one with the wicked one-eyed monster taunting his every move.

"This is how it ends," he said to himself. "This is the end of the brilliant Sheldon Cooper."

* * *

Amy sat on Sheldon's bed in her low cut night gown. "Nope, better not do that," she said while moving towards the couch. "I don't need any more encouragement," she pointed towards the bed. "This thing is going to make things difficult enough," she pointed to her choice of evening attire.

She looked at herself in Sheldon's mirror. "Don't look at me like that," she said to her other self. "I didn't know I was going to be staying here tonight."

But the reflection held a skeptical grin.

Amy's phone buzzed in her purse just in time to break the tension.

"_Oh, my god, Ames! You'll never believe what Leonard just told me!"_

Amy responded quickly, worried that something terrible had happened. "What?!"

"_Sheldon has a boner."_

"_What?"_

_ "A boner... An erection!"_

Amy jumped in her seat, feeling butterflies in her stomach. Sheldon was capable of that? "_Oh…"_

_ "Ames, he got it after seeing your sweater in his room!"_

_ "OH…"_

_ "Leonard said he'll be in the shower for a while because he doesn't want to take care of it."_

_ "Woo…"_

_ "Amy?"_

"_I have to go."_

* * *

"Don't even lie. You're having fun," Raj said in Emily's ear as they danced to some slow jazz.

"Okay, I'll admit, this place is pretty awesome."

"I told you."

They danced close, swaying as one. Raj finally found someone who could keep up with his dance moves.

"How did you find out about this place?"

Raj got very serious. "I've known about it for years. Always wanted to go, but never had anyone special to go with."

Emily smiled and kissed his cheek.

"I really like when you do that," Raj said sweetly.

"You mean this?" She kissed him on the cheek again, but this time it was slow and passionate.

Raj dipped her low to the ground.

"Yes."

* * *

It'd been forty-five minutes. Amy flipped her phone open and closed in anticipation. She couldn't help but feel flattered that Sheldon was still in the shower because of her.

She wanted to help.

But how could she possibly be any help when she couldn't even touch him?

She hopped off the couch and knocked on the door.

"Sheldon? I'm coming in." She waited for a reply but heard nothing.

She opened the door slowly. "Sheldon? You still in here?"

"I thought you were going to wait outside?" he said quietly.

"I was, but Penny told me that you were experiencing…some discomfort."

"Oh."

"Maybe if you get out and put on your robe, we can talk about it outside. I'm sure there is something that can be done from a neurobiological standpoint."

"I'm wearing my robe," he whispered.

"In the shower?"

She heard him sigh.

"Why?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm ashamed."

"Ashamed? Of being human?"

Sheldon remained quiet and faced the water once again, burying his face in the beads that had now turned cold.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Sheldon. It's a perfectly natural thing. There'd be something wrong with you if this didn't happen."

"I know you are just trying to help, but…" He stopped and felt his body yearn for her. He wanted to tear the shower curtain off the hooks and pull her into the water along side him.

"But what?" she asked.

"You're the problem," he exhaled.

Amy couldn't help but smile. "Well, if that's the case, then I definitely think I can help."

"That doesn't make any sense, Amy."

"It makes perfect sense. I'll guide you through it. So what do you say?"

"It won't work."

"I'm wearing a purple nightgown from Victoria's Secret. It reveals the tops of my breasts and the smooth skin of my thighs. I just showered and my hair smells like vanilla. I'm wearing cherry chapstick, just like the song. I just finished reading your Physics Quarterly Magazine and understood every word. And, Sheldon Lee Cooper—I want you to touch yourself." She paused. "_Now_ what do you say?"

She listened and heard nothing but the water spewing from the shower head. Maybe he really didn't want this. Maybe he'd never want this. She held her breath for one moment more—just hoping.

The swish of the shower curtain being pulled back broke the silence. He had opened it slightly before throwing his soaking robe on the bathroom floor and shutting the curtain again.

"Here we go," Amy said as she took a seat. "Woo…"

* * *

**Yes, this will continue in the next chapter. Read, review,enjoy!**


	16. Chapter 16

"I never thought I'd find someone like you," Raj said in the silence of the darkened cab. Emily blushed. "I'm serious. So many girls these days get too caught up in how they look that they forget that guys are really just looking for someone they can relate to. You're smart, funny, beautiful-and that's fantastic. But you know what it means to be alone, and you know what it means to have been hurt. That's what I relate to."

Emily grabbed his hand. "You're such a great guy, Raj."

"But?"

"But…I don't think I'm ready to be in a relationship. I have some stuff I need to deal with first."

"Who doesn't?" Raj moved closer to her and looked her in the eyes. "This could be real, and I think you're just scared. Don't do that. Don't stack those walls so high that I can't climb them."

"Raj…"

"I won't hurt you." He leaned in slowly and kissed her lips.

She exhaled.

* * *

Sheldon listened to Amy settling in a chair just outside the shower curtain. He was humiliated, ashamed, nervous, and aroused all at once. He never thought he'd be in this position again, but took comfort in the fact that Amy would be there every step of the way.

"Ready?" she asked.

He turned away from the curtain towards the wall. "Yeah."

"Good," she started, "Step one: arousal."

"I think we can skip that step," he sighed while eyeing his erection.

"You want do this right, don't you?"

He held his head back in desperation. "I suppose."

"Okay. Reach your left hand to your neck."

Sheldon did as she said. "How do you know so much about this?"

"Lots of lonely nights and romance novels. But no more chit chat. Run your fingers along your neck, starting at the base of your jaw."

Sheldon traced the muscles in his neck with his fingertips, but found nothing arousing about it. Amy clearly hadn't thought this through. "Okay," he said when he'd finished.

"Good. Now do it again, starting at your lips." Amy crossed her legs and turned towards the shower curtain, leaning slightly towards it before whispering, "But this time, it's my hand."

Sheldon touched his lips and quivered. Maybe she was on to something.

"Tracing your lips with my index finger. Dancing playfully in their part," she said lustfully.

Sheldon continued to trace the water droplets forming on his lips.

"I tug on your lower lip and slip my thumb along the moist heat of its inner surface." Amy could feel herself becoming aroused, but she reminded herself that she was here for Sheldon. After that night in the department store, she felt the need to return the favor.

Sheldon let his thumb glide along his gum line and savored the rich sound of Amy's voice seeping through the thin curtain that separated them.

"I feel your tongue, so smooth and wet, massaging it gently with my finger."

Sheldon exhaled quickly, panting briefly as his heart rate began to spike.

"I pull my thumb from your mouth and let it drift towards your neck, leaving a sweet trail of your saliva on your skin. Do you feel it?" she whispered.

Sheldon let out a muffled moan, and turned towards the curtain. He wanted to be close to her, facing her, feeling her.

Amy could hear him, so much closer than before. She stood up and approached the curtain—her lips mere inches from the curtain that was shuttering in his breaths. "I'm here."

Her focus was broken momentarily by Sheldon's hand latching firmly to the curtain rod above. She watched as his knuckles turned white while he tightened his grip.

"I press my nails against your neck and claw towards your chest."

Sheldon felt the scratches tingle in the water.

"My hand is on your chest, pressing my open palm firmly to your peck, allowing the tip of my finger to fondle your nipple."

Sheldon couldn't help but cry out, "Oh, Amy!"

"Don't stop," she said and leaned closer to the curtain. "Don't stop."

"I don't think I can last much longer," he said breathlessly.

"Don't stop."

He continued to trace his nipples and waited helplessly for Amy's next instruction. His body throbbed.

"I touch your abdomen, outlining each muscle as I go, circling your navel."

She watched his hand clench tighter to the curtain rod. It was time.

"Step two," she said.

Sheldon lifted his hand from his stomach and took a deep breath.

"Lubrication."

"What?" he yelped. He thought his body might collapse beneath him.

"Do you have any conditioner?"

Sheldon could barely make sense of his thoughts. Everything was jumbled and blurry, but he mustered enough focus to answer her. "On the counter. Near the sink."

Amy reached for the bottle, popping the top while bringing it close to the gap in the curtain.

"Hold out your hand," she said firmly.

His wet hand slipped from behind the curtain and trembled while waiting for her to add the lubrication. She held the bottle close to his hand and released a single pulse into his palm before setting the bottle back on the counter.

But he didn't move his hand. He couldn't.

Amy stood close and put her hand under his, gently folding his fingers into a fist.

But his hand still didn't move.

She grabbed his fist and pushed it back into the stream of water, guiding him closer to his erection. Pushing.

Closer.

Closer.

His closed hand hovered over his member and waited instruction.

"Open your palm, Sheldon," she whispered.

He did and with a gentle touch, she pressed his hand down.

Sheldon gripped himself for the first time in twenty years. And it felt amazing.

But Amy's hand was still on top of his. "Is this okay?" she whispered.

"Yes."

Amy moved closer and reached her other hand to the top of the curtain rod, resting gently on top of his tightened fist. Through the curtain she whispered into his ear, "You know what to do."

Sheldon swallowed and waited. He leaned his head forward towards the curtain, "Come closer," he said. Amy pressed her forehead against his, only a simple plastic sheet separating their lips.

And he began to pump.

Hand and hand—they moved together, bringing him closer.

"Don't stop," she whispered again.

"Don't stop," he repeated.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yes!" he cried.

"Sheldon—I touch your erection, stroking it firmly, sliding my fingers up and down, begging you to release. Release!" She lost her breath and let out a simple moan sending Sheldon over the edge.

"Oh, Amy!" he cried.

She could feel his member pulse beneath his hand.

Sheldon watched the aftermath drip from the curtain and swim delicately down the drain.

Relief.

Amy removed her hands and stepped back, wanting to give him all the space he needed to process what had just happened.

He was quiet.

"I'll be outside," she said sweetly.

* * *

Amy had been watching TV for twenty minutes before he opened the door in his Sunday night pajamas.

She put the sound on mute and watched him move closer.

"Thank you," he said with a shy look and sat on the bed next to her.

"I'm glad I could help. I'm sorry if you felt uncomfortable at all."

"I feel great," he smiled.

Amy looked back at the TV and fiddled with the remote in her hand. She had a difficult question to ask, and didn't know how to ask it.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Sheldon," she said while turning towards him, "Can I stay here tonight? I really don't want to sleep in the same room as Emily anymore."

"Of course."

"I should probably sleep on the couch. It's no problem. I just need a blanket."

"Don't be silly. You can sleep with me."

Amy's eyes grew wide.

"Just sleeping," Sheldon clarified.

"Okay," Amy answered with a nervous smile. But he didn't know about the nightgown.

And the dreams it induced.

* * *

**The naughtiness will continue in the next chapter. Stay tuned. And as always: read, review, enjoy. Chapter 17 in the works.**


	17. Chapter 17

"Which side?" Amy asked.

"Pardon?" Sheldon replied while adjusting the comforter on the bed.

"Which side do you want to sleep on?"

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. I've never slept on a side." He studied the sides of the bed.

"Well, why not that side?" Amy pointed to the right. "That's where you sat for Doctor Who yesterday. If it was sufficient then, it should be sufficient now."

"Amy, you continue to surprise me," he said in his squeaky voice, "That was for watching TV. I haven't the slightest idea if it's suitable for a sleeping arrangement." He adjusted the pillows. "No, this will require extensive testing."

But Amy already knew this.

"I'll just be on the couch until you decide."

Adjusting her nightgown, she sat on the couch and pulled her journal from her purse. It was the only chance she was going to get to make the day's entry. And what an entry it would be.

The pen scrolled.

_I don't think I've ever felt so high and low in all my life. And it happened in one day. We've made progress today though, and not simply on a physical level. _

_As much as I hated her in past entries, I feel a certain gratitude for Emily's actions. She brought Sheldon closer to me. She pushed him into my arms, so to speak. It's hard to hate her for that._

_I'm in Sheldon's room now. We shared a truly intimate moment tonight. I'll keep the details to myself for now. I want to savor them. But I have some reservations about the sleeping arrangements. I hadn't planned to stay with him tonight, let alone sleep in his bed with him. Normally I would jump at this opportunity, but this dang pelvis and Victoria's Secret nightgown may present a difficult night's rest for both of us. _

_Whether I sleep on the couch or by his side, I just hope my dreams are tame. Please, let them be tame!_

She looked at Sheldon testing every inch of the bed and marveled at his innocence. "I think I should sleep on the couch. Really, I don't mind at all."

"Nonsense," he said while watching the ceiling, "I'll find a spot soon and we can watch a movie before bed."

Amy rubbed her neck nervously, hoping that Sheldon would never find a suitable side, but her hopes were short-lived.

"I apologize," he said and sat up, "The right side is suitable after all. Shall we?"

A momentary hesitation followed by a nervous sigh, and Amy stood from the couch while attempting to make her night gown cover more of her bare legs. No luck.

She slipped under the covers as quickly as possible and sat up straight against the headboard.

"You're not going to lie down?" Sheldon asked.

"I'd rather sit for now, if that's okay."

He adjusted the volume on the TV.

The lamp on the end table shined a revealing light on Amy's breasts. She tried desperately to avoid its menacing glare as if she were powerless to stop its x-ray vision. Sheldon slithered deeper into the bed, making himself look very comfortable—and appetizing. Amy closed her eyes and tried to relax her body. These dreams didn't need any encouragement.

"Enough!" she called out while looking at the lamp. She flipped the switch and exhaled in the darkness.

"Is everything okay?" Sheldon asked. She could see the top of his chest through his Sunday night pajamas and immediately averted her eyes. The dreams were winning.

"Everything's fine. I think I just caught a chill," she said while sliding into the bed and pulling the covers up to her chin. She paid particular attention to the distance between them, making sure not to initiate any physical content. The dreams would just _love _that.

The programming changed to a commercial and Sheldon fished for the remote underneath the covers.

"Hah," Amy gasped as his fingers grazed her hand.

"Sorry," he said nonchalantly. But at the sight of her distress, he turned towards her, "I understand your reaction, but I promise you that I washed it."

"What?" Amy said while beginning to breathe heavily.

"My hand. I washed it—vigorously. I wouldn't want any remnants of—_that—_to get on you."

_That, _Amy repeated to herself. _That_ was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. _That _would give the dreams a smorgasbord of ammunition.

And now _THAT—_was all she could think about.

"Maybe we should just get some sleep," she said breathlessly. "We have to get up early."

"Very well." Sheldon turned off the TV. "Goodnight."

Amy stared at the clock. _I just need to stay awake. Then nothing will happen, and we can go on with our lives. That's all. I'll just stay awake. _She mumbled to herself. _I'll just stay awake._

* * *

The alarm clock stood by like a Swiss guard, watching Amy slip in and out of consciousness but doing nothing to change the course of events. Sheldon slept soundly in his vampire trance and all seemed still and 2:45am.

But the dreams began to hatch one by one like vivid spiders weaving webs in her mind. Each web igniting a fuse.

Sheldon felt her stir.

She tossed gently, hair mussed across her face as she moved closer to him.

Despite his previous objections, Sheldon found her warmth comforting. The touch of her head on his shoulder was sweet, even he could admit that. And the pressure of her hand moving along his chest gave him butterflies inside. If he could define perfect, this would be it. He closed his eyes.

"Right now?" Amy whispered.

Sheldon turned to her, "Right now what?"

But Amy was sleeping. He was sure of it. _She must be dreaming,_ he told himself. _Just dreaming_.

"But what if someone comes in? The lab doesn't lock from the inside," she said and rolled away from Sheldon. "We could get into so much trouble."

Sheldon lifted his head to watch her. _Was she planning of some elaborate heist or even some secret experiment in the lab? And who was this mysterious rogue probing her to commit such crimes? _He strained his ears to decipher what she was saying.

"On the table," she said and began to breathe heavily—lustfully.

He lifted an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it. Just throw it on the floor," she said and rolled towards Sheldon.

_Who on earth is pushing her to completely disregard organization and cleanliness_? _Heathens like that belong in a penitentiary_, he said to himself.

But his train of thought was completely derailed when she put her leg on top of his—her knee gently grazing his genitalia.

"Take me," she whispered in his ear.

"Amy?" he asked. But she made no response. "Are you awake?"

Nothing.

"Oh, god. Just like that." She began to pant.

"Amy, wake up!" he said while turning towards her. "Who are you talking to?"

Sheldon was growing very uncomfortable. The butterflies had faded and he wanted nothing more than for her to wake up and forget this awful dream.

_Could Amy really be having a…sex dream?_ _And with whom?_ He could feel the anger beginning to flow.

"You always know how I like it." She pushed Sheldon back on the bed and held him there with her leg across his lap. "Let me return the favor," she whispered.

Her lips met his neck—her tongue dancing playfully across his freckles.

_But who was she really kissing? _Sheldon mused. He felt completely alone.

Her hand gripped his pajamas and pulled him close. "I love you, Sheldon."

_Sheldon? Sheldon; that's me!_

An explosion went off in his chest. Suddenly the whole situation was quite exhilarating. Quite palatable. Quite—fascinating.

_She's having sex with me! _His thoughts began to multiply. _In the lab? Oh, Amy, you should know that that's highly unsanitary. And locking us in? Didn't you learn anything from our stint in the department store?_

But then she kissed him and his mind went blank.

"What do you want to do to me?" she whispered.

_What do I want to do to you? _He was taken by surprise and couldn't think off a single answer.

"Oh, yes please! Don't stop," she howled.

_At least someone knew the answer._

She moaned in his ear sending a chill down his spine, and his lower half began to tingle. _What kind of hold does this vixen have on me that she can even control me in her dreams?_

Amy sat up.

"Amy?"

"I need you, Sheldon. Now," she said in a deep voice and proceeded to straddle his hips, making his body tremble in anticipation and apprehension. Her hands slipped under his shirt and crept towards his chest. "Oh, Sheldon, the things you do to me," she whispered and began to grind her hips against his ever-hardening soldier.

He should have been scared. He should have questioned every aspect of the night's events. He should have tried to wake her, but all he could concentrate on was the warmth of her thighs.

_Snap out of it, Cooper. This isn't even real, _he would have told himself—if he hadn't found himself reaching for the straps on her nightgown.

"You're so good," she moaned.

His hands touched her shoulder blades and slid gently beneath the straps.

"You know just how to take a woman. I've listened to Penny's sex life for years, and baby, you put 'em all to shame."

Sheldon paused to process what she was saying. His hands began to retreat.

"Oh, god! Yes, right there. But you already knew that, didn't you?" Amy threw her head back in delight, but Sheldon felt confused and embarrassed.

"You've always known. Now give it to me!"

His heart began to sink. _She's not sleeping with me. Maybe Sheldon is a pet name._

"Yes!" she shouted as she reached her climax, letting herself fall to the side of the bed. Sheldon held his breath as she curled up and returned to a peaceful state.

When he was sure she was sleeping soundly, he tip-toed into the bathroom where he could attempt to think.

* * *

His bloodshot eyes scanned the mirror and saw a man who had just been punched in the stomach-a man who realized he wasn't the man of her dreams. He rinsed some water in his mouth and spat it into the sink, taking with it all of his hopes as it drifted aimlessly down the drain.

* * *

**I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews, especially those readers who have followed me from the beginning. This story is approaching its end, and I've begun to work on a couple outlines for a new story so I hope you will stay tuned. And as always: read, review, enjoy.**


	18. Chapter 18

Amy rustled to avoid the beam of sunlight attacking her face, an annoying little gnat assaulting her senses. It was too early for this. She rolled onto her side and extended an arm to reach for Sheldon.

But found nothing.

"You should probably get up. We leave in an hour," Sheldon said as he sat on the end of the bed—dressed, hair combed, and luggage packed.

"Is everything alright?" She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she held a hand up to block the sun.

"Everything's fine," he said while he stared at the blank television screen. "Leonard and Penny are downstairs eating breakfast. I think I'll join them. Would you like anything?"

"Umm, no, thank you," she said, pushing the hair from her face. She reached for her glasses on the nightstand.

"Very well." He walked towards the door.

"Wait, Sheldon. Is there something you want to talk about?"

"No, thank you," he said and continued to walk, "I already know everything I need to know."

"What?!" Her hair flopped to the side as she shot up in the bed in an attempt to stop him, but the door had already shut.

Once her glasses nestled into the familiar spot on her nose, she looked down to see her bare legs and disheveled nightgown.

_Dear god, what did I do?_

* * *

"I'm not saying it's going to happen today. I'm just saying that if the plane we were on could reach light speed, we would be able to achieve significant time travel," Raj rambled as he and Howard walked through the breakfast buffet.

"That's ridiculous," Howard huffed.

"It is not! You were in space. You should know how it works."

"What does space have to do with it?"

"Everything! Don't you ever read? When NASA sent the shuttle to the moon, they discovered that time on earth was moving faster than it was for the astronauts in space. So time travel is possible. Granted, we would only be able to travel to the future, but I'm not complaining."

"One day you'll listen to the stuff that comes out of your mouth and you'll laugh with me," Howard huffed.

Raj rolled his eyes and ladled another scoop of strawberries onto his plate.

"Good morning, boys," Emily said from behind them. "Anything good? Oooh, strawberries! Good choice," she said and winked at Raj before grabbing a plate.

Howard felt completely confused at the display of affection. "Okay…" he paused and looked at Raj. "Have we passed into some alternate universe? We must have because I could have sworn that I just saw her wink at you."

"And you'd be right," Raj boasted.

"What the hell? What happened?" Howard prodded.

"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

"Since when are you a gentleman?"

"Since forever. Deal with it," Raj said and joined Emily at a table.

Howard grimaced at the sight of them feeding each other fruit. _Gross._

* * *

"Hey, Sheldon! Over here!" Leonard called from his seat in the breakfast room. He and Penny had finished eating and were sipping on coffee before they needed to check out.

Sheldon sat next to Penny with his breakfast—well maybe just a glass of orange juice, but it was on a tray.

"Not hungry?" Leonard asked his friend.

"No," Sheldon sighed.

"You look pretty tired. Did you get any sleep last night?" Penny asked as she sipped her coffee.

"No. Amy slept in my room."

Penny spat her coffee back into her cup in shock, but tried to play it cool when she realized that it was an overreaction. "Sorry. Hot coffee."

"You dog!" Leonard punched Sheldon in the arm and smiled.

"I sense that you are attempting to make some quip concerning Amy and I engaging in coitus. You couldn't be further from the truth."

"Then what did happen?" Leonard asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? And all this NOTHING made you tired and grouchy?"

"Precisely."

Leonard shook his head before pausing. "Actually, I believe that." It was Sheldon, after all. And his ever-pleasant disposition.

* * *

"So, what the hell happened last night? Sheldon looked like a zombie," Penny said to Amy while they waited in the lobby for the cab to arrive.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Amy answered.

"Oh, come on! You both can't play dumb! Something must have happened last night."

"That's the thing." Amy lowered her voice and moved closer to her bestie. "I really don't know." She glanced from side to side to make sure no one was in earshot before continuing. "You know that Victoria's Secret nightgown you helped me pick out a few months ago?"

"The one that makes you have crazy dreams?"

Amy's eyes grew wide while she waited for Penny to process the situation.

"No!" Penny said when she put all the puzzle pieces together. "You didn't! Why would you wear that when you knew Sheldon would be with you?"

"I didn't know! It just happened. And I think I must have done something absolutely horrible in my sleep because he won't even look at me."

"Oh, Ames. You swore never to let Sheldon near that thing!"

"I know. I should have slept on the couch."

* * *

"So, Halo when get home?" Howard asked Leonard and Raj.

"I don't know if I can make it," Raj answered quietly.

"Really? We're not even home and you already have plans?" Howard gave him the third degree.

"Yeah, what's up with you? Why all the secrecy?" Leonard asked. "And where's your luggage? The cab's gonna be here in like two minutes."

Emily walked into the lobby and put her arm around Raj's waist.

"Actually," Raj said as his voice cracked, "I was waiting for her to be here to tell you all that we have some news."

"I want to see a paternity test!" Howard shouted. "You have no proof that it's his!"

"Shut up, dude! She's not pregnant," Raj said feeling rather embarrassed.

"Sorry. Reflex."

"What we wanted to say was that we're not going home with you."

"You're not?" Leonard asked.

"We talked about it last night and we decided that we want to stay one more night here. Just the two of us so we can get to know each other better."

"Oh," Leonard said in surprise.

"And I'm really sorry about the timing, Leonard. We didn't plan this to happen on your big weekend. You're the best guy I know, and I want you to know that I am truly happy for you and Penny. You guys are my best friends and I love you both. We will be home tomorrow and I'll take you out for a beer to make up for it." Raj was truly apologetic.

"No worries," Leonard smiled. "You kids have fun!"

Raj smiled and shook Leonard's hand before kissing Emily on the cheek.

* * *

"Yeah, this isn't awkward at all," Penny said as she sat between Sheldon and Amy on the plane. "I think I'm just gonna use the bathroom."

"Again?" Sheldon said. "You really should see a doctor."

Penny glared. "So should you."

Penny climbed over Sheldon in search of the lavatory, leaving the lovebirds alone and uncomfortable.

Sheldon sat motionless while Amy fiddled with her laptop.

"Did you remember to pack gum in your carry-on? You know how your ears pop," he said quietly.

"Yes, thank you."

He shifted in his seat and awkwardly crossed his legs.

"Listen, Sheldon," Amy said and looked towards him, "About last night…"

"Okay, I'm just gonna hold it 'til we land," Penny said while climbing over Amy. "I got to the door and could hear someone puking."

She buckled herself into her seat and looked at Amy and Sheldon. "And back to the awkwardness. Wish I had my ipod."

* * *

"Why don't you guys just eat dinner over here?" Leonard said to Howard over the phone.

_You sure? You guys did just get home._

"Definitely. It's our last day of freedom before we all have to go back to work. We should give it a proper send-off."

_Okay, Bernie and I will be there around six. Can we bring anything?_

"No, just have Bernadette call Amy and let her know. We haven't been able to get a hold of her since we left the airport."

"Will do. See you then."

Leonard snapped his cell phone shut and plopped on the sofa with a diet Coke.

"You invited Amy?" Sheldon yelped.

"Yeah. We always invite Amy."

"With my consent. I did not give you my consent to invite her tonight." Sheldon stood tall and cocked his head.

"She's coming, Sheldon. Just deal with it. Whatever happened between you two will work itself out."

"So said Commodus while he watched the gladiators tear each other apart," Sheldon mumbled under his breath.

* * *

"So, what should we do with our last night of freedom?" Penny asked as she put down the Chinese take-out box.

"We could all loosen our pants and wait for death," Howard suggested while holding his bulging stomach.

"Gross. No. C'mon, it has to be something super fun!"

"We could watch a movie?" Bernadette suggested softly.

Howard looked at her and ran a finger through her hair. "It's so cute that you think watching a movie is a super fun time."

"Guys!" Penny shouted. "I need serious suggestions. I am not going back to the Cheesecake Factory without having a freaking awesome time tonight."

Everyone was shocked by Penny's outburst. Even Sheldon, who had been washing the same dish over the sink for nearly an hour.

"We could get drunk?" Howard said.

Penny watched him closely and stared into his eyes. "Now you're talkin'!" she finally shouted.

Leonard and Howard stormed the cabinets for all the liquor they could find.

"Do you really think that's wise? Drinking while there are women present?" Sheldon asked.

"Yes, and if we're lucky, said women will do dirty things to us tonight," Howard said with a smirk before returning to the coffee table with more bottles than he could count.

"Let the fun begin!" Leonard yelled and set down the shot glasses.

* * *

Sheldon and Amy sat side by side on the couch watching their friends drink themselves into a coma. The minutes couldn't pass fast enough.

"You wanna know somethin'?" Leonard said while he put a hand on Sheldon's knee. "I really love you guys, ya know?"

"Yes, we've gathered the general idea the last fifteen times you said it," Sheldon replied as he delicately removed Leonard's hand.

"When I love someone, I'm not afraid to say it," Leonard continued as he stumbled to his feet, spilling his drink on Penny's head. "I love you couch. I love you rug. I love you table. I love you chair."

"Okay okay. We get it. But do you know how much I love you?" Penny wrinkled her nose and laughed.

"No, I love you!" Leonard said and gave her a sloppy kiss.

"Hey, I wanna play," Howard said from the corner where he and Bernadette had been admiring how shiny everything had become.

"Okay, your turn" Leonard said to Howard as they all stood together in the middle of the room.

"I love you guys," he said.

"Yay!" They chanted. Apparently they were all very good at this game.

Amy and Sheldon concentrated on the churning in their stomachs as they watched their friends make fools of themselves. It was somehow therapeutic to know that they were both going through the same miserable hell. But they said nothing.

"Oh, my god!" Penny shouted, causing Sheldon to jump from his seat. "I just had the best idea. Let's play a different game."

"Good lord," Sheldon moaned.

"Hush up, Mr. Sissypants. You can play this game too," Penny answered with a slur.

"So what is it?!" Bernadette was sitting on the edge of her seat—literally—otherwise her feet could not touch the ground.

"Seven minutes in heaven!"

Howard looked and Bernadette. Leonard at Penny. Amy at Sheldon.

"Yay!" Howard yelled and soon the other coma patients joined in.

"Wait wait wait." Sheldon interrupted. "Leonard, do you mean to say that you would be comfortable with Penny, your bride to be, playing this game with the likes of Howard Wolowitz?"

Leonard looked away and contemplated the question before shouting, "Yay!"

"Good god, he's more inebriated than I thought," Sheldon said to himself.

* * *

"Okay, seven minutes starts…now!" Leonard yelled to Penny and Bernadette through Sheldon's bedroom door as he started the timer.

"Tell me again why you are using my room for this disgusting display?"

"Because you wouldn't be comfortable in my room. And I haven't cleaned this week."

"I am not a part of this!" Sheldon raised his voice.

"Don't worry. I told them not to touch your bed, comic books, clothes and –everything really."

"Oh, well in that case," Sheldon sat back on the couch and waited for the girls to emerge.

* * *

"Seven minutes is up!" Howard shouted.

Both Bernadette and Penny opened the door and giggled as they made their way back to the couch.

"So—how was it?" Howard asked Penny and grinned perversely.

"You'll never know," she whispered.

"Alright next couple," Leonard said while he grabbed the empty vodka bottle and spun it on the table.

The open top of the bottle swirled like an ever-watching eye just waiting to pounce on any sign of weakness. It was in control and it had chosen its next victim.

"Amy!" Penny laughed. "And?" She spun the bottle and watched it spin until it stopped in front of… "Sheldon?" She was stunned.

"I already told you that I'm not playing," he said firmly.

Amy could feel her heart sink a bit. Obviously her boyfriend wanted nothing to do with her after her nightgown fiasco.

Sheldon's thoughts began to scroll. _This is such nonsense. I told them twice that I wasn't playing. But then again, the next seven minutes would be in my bedroom, my haven. Seven minutes free from drunken testimonies of love, the smell of alcohol, and Howard's nasal laugh. Seven minutes of—heaven._

"Let's go," he said and grabbed Amy's hand. They walked into Sheldon's room and shut the door.

"Yay!" The others shouted and started the timer.

Seven minutes and counting.

* * *

**Okay, I've reviewed my outlines and I think there will be about four more chapters. Thanks for joining me on this journey and as always: read, review, enjoy!**


	19. Chapter 19

"I thought you weren't playing," Amy said quietly as she sat on Sheldon's bed.

"It was better than the alternative," he said and paced around the room, looking for anything that Penny and Bernadette may have touched.

"So what happens now?" Amy asked.

"I assume you're referring to the seven minutes in heaven. I plan on enjoying the peace and quiet."

"Oh," Amy mumbled, "I thought that maybe we could talk about last night."She raised a brow to see his reaction.

"There's nothing to discuss, Amy."

"Well, there must be. You won't even look at me."

"That's preposterous," he said while flipping through every single comic book looking for fingerprints. "I've been looking at you all day."

"Yes, you've looked at me. But you haven't looked… AT me."

His head perked up and moved to the next row of comic books. "You should listen to the things you say. They're quite amusing at times."

"Sheldon!" Amy raised her voice to get his attention. He jumped like a frightened Chihuahua. "What happened last night?"

He immediately went back to inspecting the books. "You know exactly what happened," he whispered.

"Sheldon, look at me."

But the books continued to patter in the case.

Amy had seen this before. There were times when Sheldon's emotions were no longer emotions. They manifested themselves in tasks like sorting comic books.

He felt—helpless.

She stood from the bed and walked towards him. His back still facing her.

"Sheldon…" she whispered before kissing the area between his shoulder blades. "Talk to me." She put a hand on his arm and gently turned him towards her.

He turned and held his head low where she couldn't see his pain.

"Sheldon..." She whispered again and lifted his face. "What happened?"

His eyes were the bluest they'd even been, shining like sapphires in a wasteland of sadness. "It wasn't me," he whispered. "It wasn't me."

"Who?" she asked and touched the side of his face.

"The man who made love to you in your dream last night." He swallowed and cleared his throat. "It wasn't me."

Amy recalled the man in her dream—and the man in every dream she'd had for the last three years. "Of course it was, Sheldon. There's no one else."

He looked at her skeptically as the muscles in his jaw flinched. "The man in your dream knew everything about you. He knew where and when to touch you. He knew what to do to…" he paused for a moment and lowered his voice, "…pleasure you. He knew all the right things to do. That's how I know it wasn't me."

"Sheldon, it was you! You have to believe me."

"Then you have a very skewed idea of who I am." The anger he had been suppressing since the night before began to surface. Amy watched his face harden.

"Clarify something for me, Sheldon," Amy started feeling somewhat annoyed at his attitude towards her. "We've never had sex, correct?"

"Nor is it likely," he said quickly.

Amy could feel herself growing very frustrated with his childish ways.

"Since that's the case," she said while trying to calm her nerves, "I don't have much to go on. My dreams re-enact whatever I have gathered in my lifetime about sex, whether it be conscious or subconscious. And to this day, all I have to use as references are romance novels, a vivid imagination, and a toothbrush named Gerard."

Sheldon avoided eye contact and stood in the corner of the room.

"So what's the real problem, Sheldon?" she said forcefully and moved towards him. "Why are you running?"

He moved closer to the wall while Amy continued to corner him.

"What are you afraid of, Sheldon?" Amy could see that he was weakening, and she knew right where to press. "Are you afraid that our relationship will be too much for you if you let your feelings show? Are you afraid that maybe—just maybe—you might be happy? ACTUALLY HAPPY! Or are you just afraid of having everything you've ever wanted? If that's the case, don't drag me through the mud behind you."

Amy walked to the door and Sheldon stewed over her words. She looked back at him one more time, but they were still where they'd always been—broken down on the shoulder of the highway of progress.

She opened the door.

"What if I'm no good?" he asked quietly just before she shut the door.

"What?" she said as she stepped back inside.

"What if we make love—and I'm terrible at it? Isn't that the point where you find someone better—someone who can get the job done?"

Amy exhaled in relief. She had taken a gamble by pushing him so hard, but deep inside she knew it was what he wanted.

Her heart began to melt as she watched him wipe his eyes. The man she loved was finally ready fight for her. She shut the door and walked to him, gently kissing his lips. "I want you," she whispered, "And I'll want you for the rest of my life, whether we make love or not. You are everything to me, Sheldon. No dream can change that."

"But what if I can't make you happy?"

"You've already made me happier than I've ever been," she said sweetly and licked the salt from her lips.

Sheldon stared into her eyes, mesmerized by the flecks of gold. "Can I kiss you?" he whispered.

Amy responded to him with a simple peck on the lips, but Sheldon released a nervous sigh.

"What's wrong?" she asked watching his Superman T-shirt start to wax and wane heavily over is chest.

"I would like to—_really _kiss you."

But before she could respond his lips pressed against hers and his hands gently grabbed her hips. The room began to spin and Amy along with it. Her knees buckled under her frame.

She felt his hand move up her back to support her while he parted his lips to kiss her more passionately. Butterflies took over.

But Sheldon's body began to tremble and before she could even process the course of events, he had pulled away and left her standing there in love's stupor.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't," he said while he shook his head and paced through the room. "I want to. I really do, Amy. Please, understand that. But I can't."

Amy watched him with soft eyes and grabbed his hand. "There's nothing wrong with you. You're perfect." She smiled sweetly and rubbed his hand.

The thoughts in Sheldon's head began to race. He needed to make this work. "I have an idea," he said and rushed to his closet.

"Where is it?" he growled as he rummaged through the boxes on the top shelf. "Yes!" He pulled the board game Taboo from the closet. After opening the box and fishing through the contents, he took out the buzzer used for alerting players that they've broken one of the rules.

"What's that for?" Amy asked.

"I think I have a way for us to get past this—road block. I think my fear stems from the notion that once things get moving too quickly, I will have no way of stopping if I get uncomfortable."

"And this buzzer is going to help you feel more comfortable?"

"Think about it. When a tightrope walker performs without a net, he is full of tension and apprehension of the unknown. But _with_ a net, his mind and body are free to excel at the task at hand. This buzzer will be my safety net. If ever I feel that something is disagreeable with me, I will buzz to let you know."

"Oh, Sheldon, don't you think that is a little bit—much?" Amy chuckled.

"Please?" he answered seriously.

She could never refuse him. "So, how do we proceed?"

Sheldon fiddled with the buzzer and gave her a shy look. "Kiss me," he whispered.

Amy had never expected to hear those words, and now that she finally had, she could hardly move.

She stared him in the eyes with a passion that was so much more than physical. She wanted him. All of him. Body and mind. She stepped closer and put a hand on his cheek before standing on tip-toe to kiss his lips.

Sheldon's arms gently wrapped around her waist, making themselves at home in the curves of her body.

_What now?_ Amy asked herself. _We always hit a wall at this point._ She didn't want to push him. She didn't want to make a move. She didn't want to ruin what they've worked so hard to achieve.

And then he slid his tongue across her lips and she parted hers to return the favor. He slipped his hand behind her neck and pulled her closer, inching his fingers through the base of her hair.

Now he had position. He towered over her and used it to his advantage and deepened the kiss, delicately playing with her tongue.

But he couldn't resist the urge to bite her bottom lip. He applied a gentle pressure and pulled away, tugging her lip along with him.

"Where in the world did you learn how to do that?" Amy said breathlessly.

With a blush, he looked away and said, "Indiana Jones. I've wanted to try it for some time now."

Amy lifted his chin. "Why'd you stop?"

He smiled and kissed her again before pressing against her body, making her step towards the bed.

The back of her legs touched the mattress and Sheldon pulled away, breaking the kiss. He wanted to watch her as he laid her down for the first time. He wanted to know everything she was thinking, feeling, desiring.

One hand reached around her waist and the other behind her head, and he dipped her onto the bed.

BUZZ!

The buzzer sounded and both of them leapt into an upright position.

Sheldon fumbled to find the interruption. "Sorry," he said, "My hand bumped it."

"Oh, well would you like to stop?" Amy wanted him to be entirely comfortable.

He looked at her and then down at the buzzer before tossing it aside and kissing her deeply. Amy reveled in the sweet taste of his lips and reminded herself that he would buzz if he ever found something disagreeable.

He grabbed her gently and pressed her to the mattress, kissing her passionately all the while. Amy ran her hand down his back and inhaled his scent. Nothing could be more perfect.

Knock Knock Knock!

"Hurry up! Your seven minutes are up! It's my turn with Penny! Let's go!" Howard yelled through the door.

Amy tried to scurry to her feet, but Sheldon held her close and refused to break the kiss. His long arm extended while he patted the comforter in search of….

BUZZ!

* * *

**Before I forget, I want to personally thank some of my supporters. First and foremost, I want to thank my gal-pals from the Shamy thread. Thank you silverangelD, Pearlgrl, Shamylove, MJistheBOMB, Bazingafan (although she hasn't read it yet) and stardustmelody for your continued support and kind words.**

**I would also like to give a special thanks to those readers who have taken the time to review from the very beginning. Thank you carol15, Angelic Guardian, tx-fictionqueen, inwhatuniverse, Redrose, Ohgress, Rachelshamyfan, NerdForestGirl, MissMusicGeek13, and rubyanjel. Your thoughtful reviews make writing truly enjoyable.**

**And last but not least I want to thank anyone who has taken the time to read this story and anyone who has ever left a review. You've been a great audience.**

**Only 3 chapters left! I'll make them count!**


	20. Chapter 20

"That's it. I'm coming in. It's been like forty minutes. I want my shot with Penny!" Howard shouted through the closed door while Sheldon and Amy still held each other close, kissing sweetly in the reign of the greatest seven minutes of their lives.

"He's bluffing," Sheldon whispered quickly before kissing Amy again, missing the sweet touch of her skin.

"You sure?" She wanted to say more but couldn't resist him.

"It doesn't matter," he said breathlessly and touched the side of her face with the tips of his fingers. His eyes stared into hers.

"Why?" Amy asked.

But he just watched her, burning every expression, every word, every desire into is eidetic memory.

The doorknob rattled, startling Amy who expected to see Howard's face any second.

"Damn it, Sheldon! Unlock the door!"

Amy looked at Sheldon curiously before breaking into a flirtatious smile. "When did you lock the door?" she asked.

Sheldon's confidence had regenerated and he answered her with his usual air or smugness and an adorable grin to match. "I may be new at all of this, but I still have some tricks up my sleeves."

Amy had never been more attracted to him and wrapped her arms around him before kissing him passionately. Sheldon couldn't help but enjoy the sensation of her lip gloss sliding between their delicate dance, even if it did make her mouth look too slippery.

"Sheldon, I swear to god! I know where your spare key is and I'm not afraid to use it!" Howard shouted again.

"Is he serious?!" Amy said and sat up to adjust her blouse-much to Sheldon's dismay, since he was beginning to admire its disheveled nature. She would need to pay for her misconduct.

He sat up as well and made a very serious face, as if to say that Howard was telling the truth and that their seven minutes had run its course.

Amy scampered to fix her hair. After all, no one liked getting caught with make-out hair. It was just tacky.

But Sheldon smiled that same smug expression.

"What?" Amy asked, realized he had yet another ace up his sleeve.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the spare key to his bedroom.

"You jerk!" Amy smiled and punched him in the arm.

Sheldon leaned closer to her, pausing just before his lips touched hers and whispered, "I think you meant to say, 'You genius!'"

"Yes, Sheldon. You are the king of the geniuses," she said with a sigh.

"You did say that knowledge was you biggest turn on, did you not?"

"Yeah."

"Well the very definition of genius is someone who holds great knowledge. If I'm the king of the geniuses, that would suggest I house the most knowledge. Wouldn't that make my knowledge—your greatest turn on?" Sheldon said arrogantly.

"No," she said flatly.

"No? But that's what you said, remember?" His world was falling off his shoulders and he could feel the air in the room growing thin along with his confidence.

"I lied," she said.

"What? Why?"

"Because I didn't want you to know what my biggest turn-on was."

"Oh," Sheldon's heart sank a bit as he backed away from her on the bed. "Just out of curiosity, why wouldn't you want me to know?"

Amy moved closer to him to resume their previous position, her lips close enough to feel his breath. "Because it's you," she whispered while placing a palm on his chest and pushing him gently onto the bed. "It's always been you."

* * *

"It's pretty quiet out there," Sheldon said while he came up for air. They'd been kissing for hours and had completely lost track of the time.

"I hadn't noticed," Amy responded and stared at him dreamily as if he were a milkshake on a hot day—a tall, brilliant, vanilla milkshake made just for her.

"Amy, I must say that I've thoroughly enjoyed this transaction with you."

"Transaction?"

"Sorry, I'm still familiarizing myself with the urban dictionary. I will refer to it as 'making-out' from now on."

Amy laughed and rolled onto her back. She was feeling rather stiff after holding herself in the same position for hours, but it was worth it. As she rolled, the top button on her blouse slipped free, revealing the smooth skin of her chest.

Sheldon felt that tingle in his stomach again. But who was he kidding? He'd been feeling it since they started kissing. But he finally worked up the courage to accept what he could not control.

"Amy?" He said sweetly and moved closer to her. "I think I might be…ready."

Amy sat up and adjusted her glasses, "Ready for what?"  
Sheldon paused and then whispered in her ear, "It."

"Oh," Amy replied, "I kind of figured that maybe you were. I noticed your…" Amy pointed to the bulge in his pants, "…while we were kissing."

"Oh, I apologize! It can be downright unnerving. It scares me to death. I can only imagine what it does to you."

"Sheldon, do you really think I find your body repulsing? Or that your arousal would somehow cause me to pull away?"

"Of course that's what I think. It's a little monster. Am I wrong?"

Amy couldn't believe what she was hearing. She sat up to look at him. "Wow. You may be a genius, Sheldon, but you understand very little." She waited a minute to organize her thoughts and undo the lump forming in her throat. "I'm in love with you," she whispered. "I've been in love with you since the day we met. And now here you are—the brilliant and beautiful Sheldon Cooper—kissing me in your bed. ME! The mousey, awkward, and somewhat detached science nerd in the corner with braces and pig tails. The nerd that people tripped in the halls and called horrible names. It's the hardest thing in the world for me to believe that you could ever be aroused by me. But you are!" She trailed off and looked at him with tears in her eyes. "That's the most amazing love story I could ever hope to be a part of."

All of the sudden, everything made sense to him. The way she talked, the way she looked at him, the way she touched him. She loved him. And now he knew it. But deep inside—he always knew it.

"For what it's worth, I was the mousey, awkward, somewhat detached, (albeit brilliant) science nerd with braces and a cowlick that my mother simply couldn't tame. And I would have found you beautiful—even then."

Amy smiled as even more tears streamed down her cheeks. Sheldon wiped her tears away and gently kissed her lips.

"I think we're ready," he said sweetly.

"Are you sure?"  
"I'm sure."

* * *

This was it. The moment they'd feared, craved, and ignored. The moment when they no longer live in the world side by side, but as one. The moment when past, present and future no longer mattered. The moment when science took a back seat to their ultimate happiness. The moment they laid aside all inhibitions. The moment they committed themselves entirely to one another. The moment that everything finally made sense. The moment of their dreams.

Sheldon reached for the button on her blouse.

"Wait!" She said quickly. "Do you have protection?"

Sheldon's hands were paused in mid air—his fingers primed to undo the button he'd been staring at all afternoon.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," he said.

So much for the moment.

"So what do we do now?" Amy asked.

"We could stop," Sheldon began to list their viable options, "But that seems highly unlikely," he said as he looked at his pants.

"We could run to the store?" Amy suggested.

"No, that won't work. We risk losing our spot altogether to the likes of Wolowitz. We could go to your place?" he said and looked at her.

"I can't wait that long," she sighed. "It looks like we've hit a brick wall."

"LEONARD HAS CONDOMS IN HIS BEDROOM!" Sheldon nearly exploded with emotions.

"And how are we supposed to get all the way to his room and back without losing our spot?"

"Okay, let's think about this logically," Sheldon stood and paced around the room.

"Howard's afraid of me," Amy said.

"But Penny's not. We need to think of something that would keep both of them distracted long enough for us to sneak across the hall and back."

"Why does it have to be both of us? Couldn't you just go alone?" Amy asked.

"To get condoms!? No, I am not doing this alone, sister."

Amy looked at him strangely.

"Sorry, my southern upbringing surfaces when I'm stressed."

"Okay, so we're agreed. We'll go together," Amy said. "But how?"

Sheldon ran his fingers through his hair before crossing his arms in thought. What would shock Howard and Penny equally?

His arms unfolded slowly and his eyes grew wide as the answer presented itself. It would be risky.

"We could do what we were planning to do in here—out there?"

"You mean, engage in coitus?" Amy was shocked at his reasoning. She was _shocked._

"Is it setting in?" Sheldon asked, waiting for her to put the pieces together.

"So, you're saying that we ravage each other like animals on our way to Leonard's room and back, leaving Howard and Penny so flabbergasted, even in their drunken state that they have no interest in the room and we can continue with our previous plans?"

"Exactly."

Was it worth it? They looked at each other and felt their desires spike. Absolutely.

Amy stood from the bed and walked towards the door and waited next to Sheldon.

"I apologize for anything I may say or do in this endeavor. I promise that it is merely a means to an end."

"I understand," she said and took a deep breath.

Sheldon put his hand on the doorknob and could hear Howard instantly respond. _Did you hear that?_

"Ready?" Sheldon asked Amy.

"As ready as I'll ever be.

Sheldon leaned down and kissed her sweetly. "It will be okay."

She smiled and squeezed his hand and Sheldon turned the knob.

"THEY'RE OUT!" Howard shouted immediately and grabbed Penny's hand.

Sheldon and Amy looked at each other and fought the butterflies in their stomachs. There was no turning back now.

Sheldon grabbed Amy and pulled her close, kissing her everywhere. Amy immediately put her hands under his T-shirt and began pulling it towards his head.

Sheldon opened one of his eyes to see Howard and Penny's reaction. Shocked—just as they planned. They were halfway to Leonard's room.

Sheldon pushed Amy into Leonard's door and licked the base of her neck before putting one hand on her breast and another on the doorknob. "Oh, Amy!" he cried and pushed the door open.

They made it. They were safe in Leonard's sanctuary. Sheldon ran to the end table and opened the drawer where he found several condoms of different sizes, shapes, colors and tastes. "Good lord!" he yelped. "How am I supposed to decide? I haven't researched or read the reviews."

"Just grab a handful and let's go!" Amy said firmly as she pranced around the room.

"Fine." Sheldon grabbed as many as he could and stuffed them into his pocket.

"Here we go," he said and grabbed Amy again before opening the door.

Howard and Penny were still stunned at the end of the hall and Sheldon knew they needed to turn up the heat if they were going to make it all the way back to his room without compromising the mission.

"Forgive me," he whispered in Amy's ear and ripped her shirt open, tearing off all of the buttons in the process—well most of them. He wasn't The Hulk.

Amy pulled him close and kissed his neck. They were so close. The door was almost in reach.

And then Sheldon lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his hips. This was it, the finish. He pressed her against the door and gave a gently thrust of his hips.

"What the hell is happening?" Howard asked.

Sheldon reached for the doorknob and with one last push, they were safely inside. He set Amy down and locked the door before Penny and Howard could even process what they had just seen.

"It worked!" Amy squealed and wrapped her arms around Sheldon's neck.

"Thank god," he sighed.

"Now," she reached into his pocket and pulled out a single condom, "I think we are ready."

_This—_was the moment.

* * *

**Okay, first I want to apologize for the delay. And second, I want to say that yes, Shamy sex is on its way in the next chapter, but I don't want anyone going into the chapter with preconceived notions of lust, love and romance. The next chapter will be funny and awkward because the "first time" almost always is. And these to invented awkward. But I promise that the last chapter will more than make up for it, and you will have all of the love, lust, and romance that you can stand. Only 2 chapters left!**


	21. Chapter 21

"Did you see what I saw?" Howard asked Penny.

"Yup," she answered with her eyes still opened wide.

"Are we that drunk?"

"God, I hope so."

"Should we tell Leonard and Bernie?"

"What's the point? If we _are_ that drunk, we won't remember any of this. And if it actually happened, would we really want to share that image with the people we love most in this world?"

"You're right. Scratch that. Wanna make out here in the hallway? I have Tic Tacs."

Penny looked at Howard's longing eyes and fidgety hands. "Gross," she said and walked back into the living room.

"Damn it, Sheldon," he mumbled and followed her.

* * *

"So how does this work exactly?" Sheldon asked as he held Amy in his arms.

"What do you mean? How does sex work?"

"I understand the mechanics of it, but how do we get there?"

"I don't know," she said and looked away.

"What do you mean you don't know?! I was relying on your expertise to guide us through this process?"

"Expertise? This is just as new to me as it is to you."

"Weren't you bragging about your collection of romance novels earlier? I'm sure you can extrapolate."

"It's not the same thing, Sheldon. Those are someone else's likes and preferences. Not mine."

"Well, what are yours?"

"I really don't know. I've never been intimate with anyone before."

"Try," he said and put his hands on her hips, awaiting instruction.

"Well, I know I like kissing you."

Sheldon nodded his head in agreement.

"No, I mean—I REALLY like kissing you," she hinted.

Sheldon continued to nod his head.

"Sheldon,"

He startled a bit and paid close attention to her.

"Kiss me," she said.

"Oh! Right." he said and kissed her gently.

"Maybe undo the rest of the buttons on my shirt?"

Sheldon's hands reached for the buttons and undid them one at a time, feeling light-headed at the sight of her abdomen. He swallowed to settle his nerves. "Like that?" he whispered and gently opened the fabric. Her black lace bra smiled at him.

"Perfect," she said. "Now, your turn."

"Pardon?"

"What do you like?" she asked.

"Oh, dear. I wasn't prepared for this." He pulled away with his hands on his face. "This requires testing, analysis, and…"

"You don't need to know the answer to run an experiment. Why don't you just let me do what I would like to do to you, and you can let me know if you agree?"

Sheldon watched her curiously. "Sounds a little hippie-dippy but alright."

"Just sit down on the bed and say yes or no if you find something enjoyable or not."

Sheldon did as he was told and sat on the edge of the bed, his long legs draped down the side and his feet nestled close to each other in nervous anticipation. His hands shook.

"Just relax, Sheldon," she said sweetly. "It's simple. Yes or no."

He nodded and looked at her with wide bright eyes, trusting her with every fear he'd ever had. He let his body relax and with a fluid motion and his hands fell to his sides.

Amy moved close to him and pulled his knees apart so she could stand between them and hold him close. She felt his breath against her heart. "I'll be gentle. Just remember—yes or no. Ready?"

"Yes," he said.

Starting from the top, she ran her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp gently. His hair swayed in all directions.

"Yes," he said.

She moved to his shoulders. With gentle pressure she kneaded the knots that had formed in his muscles.

"Yes."

Amy leaned closer to him and moved her hands down his back. Her chest pressed against the side of his face. Perfume filled his lungs.

"Yes."

Her hands touched across his arms as she leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"Yes."

Pressing her lips gently to his, she held him in a sensual lip-lock. As she pulled away, she brushed her cheek along his and kissed along his defined jaw.

"Yes," he said as he leaned his head back.

Her lips moved down his neck, pausing to lick his freckles.

"Yes."

Amy slid her hands down his chest towards the top of his pants where she began to un-tuck his undershirt.

"No," Sheldon said with a high-pitched giggle.

"No?" Amy stepped back. "What's wrong?"

Sheldon looked at her innocently, "It tickles."

Amy smiled and braced herself for his retreat. But to her surprise, he pulled up on his shirt and lifted it over his head, revealing his bare chest.

"Whoo…" Amy said without even knowing.

"Pardon?" he said after folding his shirts carefully.

She eyed him longingly, absorbing every inch of his body. "I don't know if anyone has ever told you this before," she said quietly, "But you are beautiful. Inside and out."

Sheldon smiled, a delicate balance between humility and ego. Either way, her words made him happy.

"May I?" she said while reaching for his chest.

He looked up at her and slowly nodded his head.

She put her hands on his chest and pushed him onto the mattress.

BUZZ!

"Sorry," he said and threw the buzzer on the floor. "Forgot it was there." He readjusted on the bed, "Okay, I'm ready."

Amy smiled and crept on top of him and kissed his chest.

"Yes," he whispered. She could feel his little friend through her skirt. But he wasn't so little anymore.

"This isn't so bad, is it?" she said with a smile.

"No."

"How do you feel?" she asked.

But he had no answer for her. All he wanted to do was remove her blouse, and he did. Slowly reaching under the fabric and running his fingertips down the back of her shoulders until the garment drifted away like a snowflake on a windy day.

All that was left was Amy, staring at him in her bra—chest heaving, eyes shimmering, body glistening. Okay, so she just looked normal, but he was a man in love and for the first time, he was thinking with his lower half.

Pushing off the mattress with his arms, he sat up and kissed her lips. His right hand wrapped around her mid-section and started to fiddle with the clasp of her bra.

Amy stifled a moan. Sheldon's can-do attitude was making her sweat, and she loved it.

_Twist?_ Sheldon asked himself as he continued to manipulate the clasp.

_Nope. Pull, maybe?_ Nothing yet.

_She must have this thing booby-trapped._ He paused and stopped kissing once he realized the double meaning in his statement. Thank god he hadn't said it aloud.

He lifted his other hand to her back. There was no way this simple clasp could withstand the intellectual power and manual dexterity of Sheldon Lee Cooper.

Both hands went to work. And both hands came home with nothing to show for it.

Amy was desperately trying not to laugh. She didn't want to do anything that would discourage him. She even considered just doing it herself, but that was sure to let the air out of his sails and the pitch out of his tent so she waited patiently.

"Why don't you just worry about that later," she said gently and started to kiss his earlobe.

"No, I can get it. Really, it's almost there. You must have gotten a defective edition. I will send an email to the manufacturer in the morning."

Again, Amy used all of her might to conceal her laughter.

"Sheldon, it's not a big deal. We can get to it later if you can't figure it out."

OOPS! She'd said it. She shined the brightest light on his inability to perform this one simple task and he began to flop like a fish out of water.

"You think I can't do this? I'm a genius. This thing was obviously designed by Neanderthals and wasn't meant to function for someone such as myself."

"The Neanderthals designed it specifically to malfunction in the presence of a genius?"

"Precisely."

"Sounds like they may have out-witted you."

Sheldon leaned back and squinted his eyes at her. "Oh, my phone is ringing!" he said and gently pushed Amy off of him.

"I didn't hear anything," Amy said while looking confused.

"Well, my phone is on vibrate," he said and pulled his phone from his pocket. "And it looks like it's just a text message. I'll just reply and we can get back to business. It may take a few minutes."

"I was sitting on top of you, Sheldon. I could feel—everything. And I didn't feel any vibration." Amy watched him stand in a trance in the light of the screen.

"Hmm?"

"Are you even listening to me, Sheldon? What's going on?"

"Mmm-hmmm," he said while continuing to study the mysterious text message.

"Who would be texting you now?" Amy started to walk closer to him.

"Hmmm?"

"What are you doing?" Amy said quickly and snatched his phone like a Venus Fly-Trap.

She looked at the screen and couldn't believe what was playing before her.

"Are you seriously watching a YouTube tutorial on how to remove a woman's bra?" Amy couldn't help but smile as wide as her face would allow.

"Don't be preposterous. My finger slipped. I was answering a very important text message from the president of the university."

"Mmm-hmm" Amy stepped closer to him, feeling more attracted to him that ever. She wanted him so badly that her mouth began to salivate.

"Now, if you'll give me my phone back. I can answer the text and we can resume our amorous activities."

"Make me," Amy said and held the phone behind her back. "Take my bra off and I'll give you the phone."

"Amy, this is no time for nonsense. Give me the phone, and I will forgive you of this transgression."

"I'm waiting."

"I am not going to participate in these little mind games of yours. Now give me my phone so I can return to my video… I MEAN TEXT."

Amy smiled and licked her lips. She could feel a moisture growing between her legs and it was reserved for Sheldon Lee Cooper, the bra-removing novice.

She turned her back to make the clasp more visible. "Chop chop," she said.

With a sigh, he approached the dreaded clasp and eyed it with the determination and strength of a gladiator heading into battle. He raised a single hand and extended two long, agile fingers towards the clasp.

Amy prepared to laugh at his impending foibles, but the clasp sprung free in one deft motion. She felt him press against her and put his hands on her hips. A hot breath spread over her ear. "I already watched the video," he whispered lustfully.

Amy dropped the phone, turned to him and instantly grabbed the front on his pants to pull him against her thighs. Sheldon licked his lips while he watched her undo the button on his pants.

With a thrust she pushed his zipper down and slid her hands down the back of his pants, squealing inside as she cupped his ass for the very first time. "Whoo."

Sheldon's ego puffed like a helium balloon. Until she spoke…

"Sheldon?" Amy asked while she fiddled with the back of his underwear.

"Yeah?"

"Who wrote your name in the back of your underwear? This isn't your handwriting."

"No."

"So whose is it? Did you have Leonard write in your underwear because you didn't want to get ink on your fingers."

"That's just silly."

"Sheldon."

"Fine. It's my mother's."

"Your mother hasn't been here in months."

"I send her every new pair of underwear I buy."

"Why?"

"She draws a little smiley face in the O."

Amy smiled and shook her head. "You can be such a child sometimes."

Sheldon's face became very serious and she worried that she'd offended him. He grabbed her hands roughly and pulled them over her head before pressing her against the wall. "With my mother, I may be a child. But with you—I'm a man." He pushed his body against hers. She could feel his erection between her legs

"Take me?" she whispered.

Sheldon responded by grabbing her thighs and lifting her into the air. Her legs wrapped around his hips and her breasts gently bobbed as he carried her towards the bed.

His pants had settled a bit and hung low in his hips. Amy moaned after catching a glimpse of the bulge in his briefs as he laid her down.

"Take your pants off," she said breathlessly. "I need you—NOW!"

Sheldon did so and laid on top of her in nothing but his white Fruit of the Loom briefs. Amy grabbed his hand and pushed it towards the zipper on her skirt. This was taking far too long. She needed action.

Sheldon undid the zipper and pulled her skirt down, revealing the matching black panties that he had been imagining all afternoon. A wet spot had formed in the center and Sheldon felt his heart race and his member throb.

Amy sat up grabbed his briefs. "Off," she said forcefully before ripping off her own panties.

He stood in front of her and slowly removed the only barrier left between them. The only chance to escape. The only stone left unturned.

They fell to the floor. And all Amy could think was that aesthetically pleasing was an understatement.

"Which one," Sheldon said while pointing to the condoms. The foreplay was over. They both knew it. They needed a release. Which was a relief to Sheldon especially, because he had no idea what came next in the foreplay arena.

"It doesn't matter," Amy said.

"Of course it matters. They've designed all of these to accomplish different tasks. For instance, this one claims that it is ribbed to provide the woman with more pleasure."

"Just pick one!" Amy shouted.

Sheldon jumped a bit and chose the chocolate flavored one. _Probably tastes like Yoohoo. Can't go wrong with that._ He ripped the package open and tasted the coating.

He gasped and threw the package on the floor. _Definitely not._

He opened the magnum. _Good, lord! Is this for a horse? It's certainly not for Leonard._

He began to read each package, dissatisfied with nearly all of them, except one.

"Thin for his pleasure. Ribbed for hers." _Perfect._

He opened the package and slipped it on before Amy disintegrated in her own libido.

He turned to face her.

"Come here," she said sweetly and guided him to his position on top of her. His body fit perfectly between her legs.

"They say it hurts. For the woman, I mean. If it's her first time," he said.

"I know. Don't worry about me, Sheldon. It will be okay. And in the end, it's more than worth it."

Sheldon leaned down and kissed her slowly. Tongue to tongue. Chest to chest.

And he gently pushed inside her.

Amy flinched a bit and then kissed him more deeply, sucking gently on the end of his tongue. This made him pump faster.

_What a marvelous sensation. Like stepping into a warm bath—times a billion. _In and out. In and out. In and out. _Okay, maybe a trillion. _

But not everyone was thrilled with their union. Not everyone sat silently on the sidelines and applauded their long-awaited consummation. Not everyone cared that this was a monumental step in their otherwise turtle-paced relationship.

The bed simply did not care.

And began to squeak with every thrust of Sheldon's hips.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

"Good, lord!" Sheldon yelped. "There's no way I can concentrate with that incessant noise."

Amy panted like a dog on a hot summer day.

* * *

"Do you guys hear that?" Howard said from the couch as the gang watched a movie and drifted into an inebriated trance.

"Yay!" Leonard shouted.

"No!" Howard answered before the others could chime in. "We're not doing that right now. Just listen. Do you hear that?"

"Just sounds like squeaking," Raj answered and continued to watch TV.

"That's not just any squeaking," Howard said while he stood and looked down the hallway.

"That's the squeak of a bed in distress. Sheldon Cooper is getting laid."

"Yay!" Leonard shouted again and the others joined in almost instantly.

"First he steals my seven minutes in heaven, and then he gets laid on top of it. You just made my list, Sheldon."

"Yay!"

Howard looked at his friends and could muster the mental strength to do nothing more than sigh.

The squeaking grew faster as they watched commercials flash.

* * *

"Was that satisfactory?" Sheldon asked as he let his exhausted body fall alongside Amy's. But she was to breathless to speak. Her chest heaved in exhilaration.

"Amazing," she whispered.

Sheldon put his arms behind his head and grinned. _Amazing is right._ Amy rested her head on his chest and they drifted to sleep in each other's arms.

* * *

"Sheldon?" Amy awoke to the sound of his alarm clock that was always set to chime at 6:15. But he was nowhere to be found. She fished for her glasses on the end table and slipped on his robe before stepping out into the hallway.

The house was quite. Leonard was at Penny's and Amy realized that she was all alone. _Maybe he went out for breakfast. I better call him anyway._

She found her purse, pulled out her phone and dialed his number.

The familiar Star Wars Theme played from somewhere in the apartment. He'd left his phone behind.

Amy crouched and scanned the living room to see a light flashing from Leonard's chair. She rushed to the phone to see if there were any clues as to his whereabouts. _One missed call from Amy. _But she already knew that. She cleared the notification and noticed that he had an unread text message.

She was tempted to read it. _But is that a betrayal of his privacy? Are we at that point in our relationship? _She set the phone on the coffee table and walked away. It wasn't worth the risk.

But just as she reached for the coffee pot, the phone chimed. Another text message. _What if he's in trouble? _

And that was it. She flipped open the phone and looked at the text messages.

_Two new text messages from Dr. Emily Richards. _Amy felt her heart sink. Why on earth would this woman be texting her boyfriend after everything that happened?

She immediately tried to open them, but the phone had other plans. _Message inbox full. Please clear inbox to open message._

Amy sighed in relief and disgust. She didn't read the texts from Emily, but she hadn't betrayed Sheldon's trust either. She sat on the couch—_IN HIS SPOT—_and waited for him to return. She stared at the notification, unlocking the phone each time the light went out.

_Two new text messages from Dr. Emily Richards _flashed on and off like an S.O.S. signal across Amy's face.


	22. Chapter 22

"Hey, have either of you seen Sheldon? He left sometime this morning and didn't mention where he was going," Amy asked, still dressed in Sheldon's robe, clutching his phone in the pocket.

"Sorry, Ames," Penny said as she yawned and leaned against her apartment door.

"Well, has Leonard heard from him?"

"I doubt it," Penny said and opened the door wider to reveal Leonard throwing bologna on the ceiling to decipher the shapes afterwards—like cloud watching. "I think he's still drunk."

_That one looks like a baby dinosaur! Oh, no! It's getting eaten alive by the Easter Bunny! Yay!_

Amy sighed as she watched Leonard run around the apartment in nothing but Green Lantern boxers, knowing that she was in this alone.

"Thanks, anyway." Amy finally spoke. "I'll let you two get back to—whatever you call that."

"Don't worry about Sheldon, sweetie." Penny pulled her hair into a messy bun and started to close the door. "He'll be fine."

"I hope so."

Penny had almost closed the door when Amy stopped her.

"Wait!"

Penny opened the door quickly, suddenly feeling wide awake. "What's up?"

"I just have one more question." Amy squeezed his phone in her pocket and swallowed. "When does Emily's plane arrive?"

"Ummm, a couple of hours ago, I think. Why?"

Amy had to focus on her breathing to ensure that it didn't stop when she wasn't paying attention. "No reason. I was just curious," she whispered while trying to choke back her tears.

"You okay, Ames?"

"Fine. Perfectly fine. I'm just gonna make some coffee."

She turned from Penny and walked towards the apartment while the walls laughed in her face. She was one of those foolish girlfriends who was being left behind and didn't even know it.

She shut the door behind her and leaned against it in a pitiful sort of paralysis. _What do I do now?_

Coffee sounded terrible. Food even worse, and the idea of watching Sheldon's TV on his couch in his apartment broke her heart into a thousand pieces.

So she stood there, scanning every inch of this once sacred apartment. Emily had never set foot in this paradise, but it was tainted in a way that could never be repaired. The carpets were stained, the sink clogged with dishes, and the bedroom filled with sin.

_The bedroom. The bed. Under the bed._ Amy's thoughts began to untangle and she gasped at the outcome.

_Her papers are still under his bed, the very same bed that witnessed our consummation. No wonder it squeaked in delight. It's on her side, protecting her from the elements. _

Nothing made sense anymore. And nothing seemed to matter. Not even the sound of someone inserting a key into the door.

The intruder bumped her backside with the door, but who cared? Not Amy. She stepped away and stood in the middle of the room feeling cold and lost.

"Amy?" Sheldon asked as he threw his keys into the bowl. A heavy back pack hunched his shoulders as he approached her. "Amy, are you okay?"

Amy couldn't bring herself to look at him. "Where were you?" she whispered.

"I just went out for a moment. I'm back now. What's wrong?"

She turned to him and stared into his eyes. "Where were you?" she asked again.

Sheldon felt overwhelmed with fear. His eyes grew wide and shifted from side to side. "I can't tell you that."

Amy's face turned a shade of red that he'd never seen before. And a single tear streamed down her face. But it wasn't a tear of sadness. Even he knew that.

"Show me," she said and took a deep breath.

"Show you what?"

"Show me where the safe is?"

"What safe?"

But she was done talking. She turned and stormed down the hallway towards his bedroom. She ripped the comforter off of his bed. She lifted the corner of the bed into the air and moved the entire piece to reveal the small silver safe nestled safely next to the vent in the floor. It was covered in a thick, even layer of dust. _Of course. She's been here forever, spitting on my shoes each time I passed._

"What are you doing?" Sheldon asked.

"I need to know."

"Amy, please don't open that."

Amy looked at him and felt uncontrollable. Was he still trying to keep her safe? Amy pulled the safe onto her lap and examined the code system.

"What's the code?" she demanded.

"It's private."

"Sheldon Lee Cooper, give me the code right now!"

Sheldon stood quietly.

"Sheldon…"

He pulled the weighted back pack from his arms and started to walk towards the door. "03071978," he whispered and entered the kitchen.

"Of course he'd use his birthday," Amy mumbled as her fingers pounded the numbers in a fury.

The light flashed green and Amy ripped the door open as fast as her hands would allow. There they were, just like he said. Dozens of laminated papers in alphabetical order.

She sat on the edge of the bed and let her emotions go. The tears began to flow and her chest heaved in the face of her adversary who'd beaten every last breath of life out of her.

With shaking hands, she pulled the papers towards her chest. Why she felt the need to continue the torture was a mystery even to her.

She scanned the paper titles.

_Visual Maps and the LGN Receptor _in_ Primates_

_ Ocular Dominance Columns in the Visual Cortex_

_ Lateral Geniculate Nucleus of Primates_

"But…" Amy whispered as she recognized the papers. "They're mine." She flipped each one over and looked at the author. "It's me."

While she cradled the papers in her arms as if they were a newborn baby, the gentle hum of a remote control car filled the room.

Amy was awakened from her stupor by the gentle nudging of the car's tires. Apparently it needed to give her a message. She set the papers on the bed and looked down at the black monster truck.

With another nudge, Amy's attention was brought to a small box wrapped in a delicate blue bow that was resting in the bed of the truck. She grabbed it, untied the bow gently and lifted the lid from the box to reveal a single key.

Just then, Sheldon entered the room with a cup of tea. "It's always been you," he whispered.

She cried all over again while she looked at him. "What does this mean?"

He sat close to her on the bed and wiped the tears from her eyes. "It means that I never want to be away from you again. Last night made me realize that I can't live another day without you with me. Will you move in with me, Amy?"

Amy smiled. "But what about Leonard?"

"What about him? What we do doesn't concern him. I have the right to procure an additional roommate anytime I see fit. It's in the Roommate Agreement."

"But where would I sleep?"

"With me, I hope?"

Amy dropped the box on the floor and threw her arms around him. "Wait, wait, wait." She said as she pulled away just as quickly as she'd started. "But where were you?"

Sheldon sighed. "Part of my time was spent getting the key made and the other part was spent doing—research. Hence the backpack."

"But you left your phone here."

"Oh!" he said, happy to see that he hadn't lost it.

"And Emily texted you twice."

"Oh," he answered in a much lower tone.

"'Oh,' is right. What's going on?" she asked.

"I'd have to read the text to be able to answer that. I haven't been in contact with her since the day she apologized to me in Vegas."

Amy reluctantly handed the phone to him and Sheldon immediately opened the first text message.

"It appears to be a picture of Raj and Emily kissing in a hot air balloon. The text says: _I'm no one's sloppy seconds. So, suck on that."_

Sheldon looked perplexed. "I can't imagine why Emily would say something like that to me."

"Open the next one," Amy urged.

"It says: _This is Raj fyi. My phone fell in a fountain. Peace out, Sucka!"_

Sheldon closed the phone and tried to hide a smile. Crisis averted. Amy hung her head in embarrassment.

"So, what were you so busy researching?" she asked as she eyed the backpack on the floor.

Sheldon picked it up and set it on the bed. As he unzipped the biggest pocket, hundreds of papers came falling out. Papers covered in pictures of female genitalia.

"Oh, my god, Sheldon! What were you researching?!"

"I know last night wasn't everything you were hoping it would be. I want to pleasure you in every way possible."

"Sheldon," she sighed sweetly, "Last night was the best night of my life."

"And tomorrow you can say the same thing," he said confidently.

Suddenly she felt short of breath.

* * *

"I should shower, Sheldon. I'm still dirty from last night. I know you don't like that."

"You don't need to shower," he said and started to untie her robe.

"But I…"

He slipped a tongue inside her mouth to quiet her. Amy returned the favor and savored the taste of chamomile and honey.

"You sure you don't want to take one last look at your notes?" Amy teased.

"I have an eidetic memory, Amy." His hands entered the robe and gently pushed it to the floor, revealing her naked body. "I remember everything."

"Do you at least want to shut the door?"

"What for?" Sheldon began to push her towards the bed. "Leonard could stand to learn a few things."

He set her down on the bed and kissed her neck, sucking gently just because he knew it'd make her crazy.

Amy grabbed his shirts and pulled them over his head. Finally! She'd been dreaming of his body since she fell asleep last night.

"Do you want me to grab you a condom?" she asked since her hand was right next to the end table.

"No, thank you," he answered, still kissing her.

Amy wondered what was going to happen. She was naked. He was almost naked. Condoms came next…right?

The weight of his body lifted off of hers and he gently kissed between her breasts.

"Oh, Sheldon," she gasped and arched her back, begging him to continue.

He smiled, feeling thankful that his research was so thorough. He opened his mouth and gently sucked on her nipple.

"Oh," she moaned.

He continued to kiss down her abdomen and paused just below her navel, letting his hot breath pool between her hips.

Amy couldn't help but pump her hips in a gentle motion.

He slid his hands down her thighs and gripped just beneath her knees, lifting then to attention before easing them apart.

_Oh, god! Is he really going to do what I think he's going to do?_ Amy's breathing grew rapid and shallow as Sheldon's head slowly crept between her legs.

"Okay, Amy. Your turn," he whispered.

"What?" she answered breathlessly.

"It's simple. Yes or no."

Amy's eyes opened wide as she felt his breath grow closer to the skin of her inner thigh.

"Don't worry. I'll be gentle," he said.

Amy exhaled quickly as he kissed the soft skin on her thigh.

"Yes," she whispered and put a hand on top of his head, running her fingers gently through his hair.

His kisses moved, touching so close.

"Yes."

But when she felt him pull away, she was sure that he'd reconsidered. It was still fun while it lasted. She'd never take it back for anything.

And then his tongue pressed against her swollen bud.

"Yes!" she howled.

Sheldon couldn't help but smile as his head swiveled between her legs. Research always pays off, even when you're a genius. "Yes," he whispered to himself and gently pushed a single finger inside her.

Amy threw her head back, but remained silent.

"Amy?" he asked while continuing to pleasure her.

Nothing.

"Amy, is everything okay?" He glanced up at her, looking past her quivering stomach and heaving breasts and stared directly into her eyes.

"More," she mouthed, unable to speak.

Sheldon closed his eyes while his tongue lapped harder and faster against her clitoris. That was his word of the day—clitoris. Fascinating.

"Oh, Sheldon! Don't stop! Please, don't stop!"

Sheldon guided her through the strongest orgasm she'd ever felt. He'd done it. He'd pleasured his girlfriend to the fullest extent. _Not even Leonard had done that. Wolowitz certainly never did._

He wiped his mouth and crawled next to Amy and waited while she collected herself. In the mean time, he basked in the satisfaction that he really was good at everything.

"Thank you," Amy finally said when she'd regained her breath. "That was… The best I've ever had."

"I told you," he answered with a cute grin and kissed her cheek. She counted the bumps on the ceiling.

"Amy?" he asked sweetly and put his hand on her stomach.

"Yeah?" She turned her head to look at him.

"I love you."

An explosion went off in her head. Had he really just said the words she'd waited so long to hear? This day wasn't going to get any better. She was sure of it.

"I love you, too," she whispered and kissed him sensually, sending his body into a euphoric state.

Amy reached for his pants and undid the button and zipper. "Your turn," she said in a sultry voice.

Sheldon's long arm reached over her and grabbed a condom. With one quick movement, his pants were gone and his little soldier was prepped for battle. The sweetest battle he'd ever face.

Amy looked at Sheldon as he positioned himself between her legs. "You mean everything to me."

"I know," Sheldon said with a smile. "You're the only thing in my life that makes me truly happy. I know now that I would do anything for you."

Amy sighed and leaned back on the pillow. "Kiss me," she whispered and Sheldon did so.

With a gentle push, he was inside her, pumping his hips in a perfect rhythm that left Amy begging for more.

Amy reached her hands to his chest and played with his nipples.

"Good, lord!" he shouted and thrust faster.

"Come to me, Sheldon," she whispered as she watched his eyes roll into the back of his head and his body tremble.

After several seconds of silence, he fell to her side and exhaled. "Thank you," he whispered and laced his fingers with hers.

Despite all of the obstacles, they'd finally found their destination. And what a destination it was.

* * *

"Do you require a high fiber cereal this morning?" Sheldon asked Amy as he reached for the boxes on top of the refrigerator.

"No, thank you," she answered. "I think I'll just have coffee." She kissed his cheek and walked to the pot.

"Suit yourself. You'll regret it tomorrow."

Amy smiled and carried her cup towards the couch.

They sat side by side, watching re-runs of Babylon 5. They could have been watching nothing at all and would have still been smiling.

"Good morning, Leonard" Sheldon said as he saw his hung-over and tired roommate emerge from his room in a bathrobe.

"Morning," he said and shuffled towards the coffee pot. "Why's Amy here so early?"

"She lives here now," Sheldon answered and smiled at Amy. "I've prepared an addendum to the Roommate Agreement and placed it on the counter for you to sign. I'm sure you will find it satisfactory."

Leonard rubbed his eyes and picked up the stack of papers with his name on them. "It's too early for this."

Amy whispered a question to Sheldon.

"Amy," he started, "Aren't you paying attention at all?"

"What are you guys watching?" Leonard asked as he cupped the papers and started to head back to his room.

"Some dopey space movie," Amy said and winked at Sheldon.

"She understands perfectly well. She just likes to torment me with her wit," Sheldon chimed in. "But she'll never outsmart me."

"Care to play Counterfactuals?" Amy asked with a sly look on her face and continued to sip her coffee.

"Alright," Sheldon said and pulled the rubber band from the stack of cards,

Leonard watched them giggle and answer absurd questions to their hearts delight. With a shake of his head he clutched his cup and the stack of papers before walking down the hall towards his room. He mumbled to himself along the way, "And then there were two."

The end.

* * *

**Thank you again to all of my readers. Thank you for the reviews and the support. I truly enjoyed writing this story and am a little sad to see it end. I specifically kept this story simple and light-hearted because I hadn't done any writing in several years and didn't want to get in over my head. I am, however, working on a new Shamy fic that will be darker and more in depth, so stay tuned. I plan to publish the first chapter in the next couple weeks. But I have one question for you all: What are your thoughts about having Kripke be a main character in the story? I absolutely love him on the show and would love the opportunity to flesh him out and reveal a more human side to him. Let me know what you think. And again-read, review, enjoy!**


	23. Info on my new story

Here is the link to my new story for anyone interested. Enjoy!

s/9512614/1/The-Gravitation-Animation


End file.
